Pink and Green
by Aminatsu032
Summary: AU. "This is Sakura," Fugaku said. "She will be part of this family from now on." Sasuke then wondered how pink and green could possibly look good together as it looked good on her. - SasuSaku
1. her green, green, green eyes

**Blanket Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

* * *

Why are we alive?

Is it because have a purpose to fulfill?

If that is the case, then what are we living for?

Why have we not died?

.

.

.

Do you believe in fate?

How about in destiny?

Do you believe that _you _have not stumbled upon my story on purpose?

Are you fated to know what's inside?

.

.

.

Will you understand?

Will you think ill of me?

.

.

.

Why am I here?

.

.

.

Why are _you _here?

.

.

.

_Why do we live?_

* * *

**The Paradigm of Colors**

**BOOK 1**

* * *

_We have only once to die, and if we do not die well, we lose an opportunity which will not again be presented to us._

- J. Rizal, 9 July 1890

* * *

_Tap tap tap tap tap tap -_

"No..."

_Fists clench -_

"We're too late..."

_Tap tap tap tap tap -_

"They're all gone..."

_A sob -_

"What was that?"

_Another -_

"Who's there?"

_Tap... tap... tap..._

"Hello?"

_She pulls her legs closer, her green (green, green, green) eyes looks fearfully at him._

"Fugaku-san, it's -"

_He reaches out to her; he doesn't let him finish._

"Hello."

_His voice is soft - _

"Come out."

_His voice is gentle._

"I won't hurt you."

_Her whole body shakes in fear; he steps closer._

"N-No, d-d-don't - !"

_He crouches down to her (so frail, so small, so scared...)._

"I won't hurt you. I'm a friend."

_She meets his eyes (black, black as night, black as coal...)._

"I won't hurt you."

_He tries to reach her with his hand._

"I promise."

_She looks at him; he smiles faintly (you pitiful child...)._

"I promise."

_Slowly, she extends her hand (so frail, so small, so scared...) and he takes it gently (so frail...)._

"My name is Fugaku."

_He closes his big hand around her small ones._

"What is yours?"

_She looks at him curiously._

"Sa...kura. My name is... Sakura..."

_He smiles sadly._

"Well then, Sakura... can you stand?"

_She nods._

"Kaito, send a message back to the Hokage. Tell him the situation."

_He glances at the child who is looking blankly at the burnt houses._

"And tell him that I want to talk to him about this child."

_She doesn't hear him and doesn't notice as his eyes dim with pity._

_He hadn't able to save them..._

_... but, in their memory, he could save their child._

* * *

**Chapter 1: And so they met**

* * *

He glared intensely at his mud tower and glanced at his brother's. His obsidian eyes narrowed. Grabbing another handful of soil and dampening it a little, he added another storey above his last before the tower finally collapsed.

Sasuke whined in frustration, stood up, stomped his feet and crossed his arms. His older brother laughed.

"How are you doing that?" Sasuke demanded, pointing accusingly at his brother's intricate workmanship (while his looked like a pile of poop).

Itachi laughed quietly. "I already taught you, Sasuke, but you can't expect it to be perfect at your first try. Building mud castles require patience."

"Pfft," Sasuke pouted. "I don't see what importance this is to becoming a ninja."

Itachi smiled. "Hm, it is important," He looked at his brother and met his eyes, "especially when learning new ninjutsu. You can't expect to get everything during your first try."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, seemingly unconvinced. "But you did," he said accusingly.

Sasuke was about to continue when a familiar voice rang in his ears.

"I'm home."

The child's face lit up, forgetting his previous predicament. "Otou-san's back!"

Sasuke ran into the manor's back door, kicking his dirty outdoor footwear out and speeding towards his father barefooted with Itachi slowly following.

"Otou-san, Otou-san!" he said cheerfully, tackling his father into a hug.

"Hello, Sasuke," his father greeted, putting a hand above his younger son's head affectionately.

"Welcome back, Otou-san," Itachi said once he arrived at the scene.

Almost instantly, their mother walked to the front steps, too, wiping her hands with her apron.

"How was work?" Mikoto asked, kissing her husband's right cheek. Sasuke, who was sandwiched in between them, ack-ed in disgust and quickly let go of his father.

"Gross," he murmured, walking towards Itachi.

Mikoto laughed and Fugaku, if he wasn't the serious man that he was, could have smiled.

"Sasuke, behave yourself," Fugaku said, with a hint of seriousness in his tone. "We have company."

Sasuke and Mikoto both looked at the door. Itachi had been looking at it since his father's arrival, seeming to have noticed the unfamiliar presence already.

Fugaku, too, turned to the door. "Sakura," he called, "you can come in now if you want."

Sasuke watched as a child - about around his age - emerged from the door, her head down and with cautiousness in her every step. The first thing he noticed was her hair - it was pastel pink, the color of cherry blossoms.

The child stopped just beside Fugaku and with noticeable gentleness, he placed a hand on top of her head affectionately, just as he did with Sasuke before. Somehow, this irked Sasuke to unfathomable levels.

"This is Sakura," Fugaku said. "She will be part of this family from now on."

Nobody spoke, at first, all looking at the child who was yet to raise her head. And with cautiousness, she did, looking at the three briefly before bowing politely.

And at that moment, time seemed to have stopped for Sasuke - for this child's eyes were even odder than her hair. They were green - vibrant green - brighter than the color of jade, but dimmer than emerald. Not in his six years has he seen a color so odd, so unusual, and so... magnificent.

Sasuke then wondered how pink and green could possibly look good together as it looked good on her.

* * *

For the past two weeks since she arrived, Sasuke told himself that he hated her. He cared not if her eyes were dazzling, or her smile was just as bright. He just did. Mainly because although Itachi hogged most of his father's attention, Itachi gave Sasuke his – except now.

Sasuke scowled.

Now, Itachi was behind Sakura, teaching her how to throw a kunai. _A damn kunai,_ Sasuke thought, absently throwing one of the pieces of metal sprawled on the ground to one of the log targets and hitting the bull's eye.

It was unfair that his own older brother was teaching somebody who wasn't an Uchiha ninja technique. For one, Sasuke made it a point to learn how to throw a kunai by himself. Another, the way Sakura's eyes lit up when she hit something close to the target (but not actually the target itself) made him feel something foreign in his chest.

He knew not why it was there, or what it was, but he knew the feeling irked him so.

Again, he hit the target, glancing at his brother who didn't even seem to notice he was there, and asked for the millionth time to whoever it was governing everything from up above why he had to bring the pink-haired girl into their lives.

Sasuke irritably poked the ground with a rather long piece of wood as he contemplated his existence when a familiar voice broke his train of thought.

"What are you doing, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke's head shot up and his eyes glared as hard as it could.

Before him, Sakura stood hands behind her and with the biggest smile he'd ever seen, eyes wide and curious. In his moment of contemplation, he didn't even notice that the short training session she and his brother had was over.

"It's none of your business," the boy mumbled, going back to poking the ground.

Sakura, being the ever-persistent, little pocketful of sunshine she was, crouched down to examine further what the little Uchiha was so busy about.

"What's that?" she asked.

"It's a stick."

"What do you need the stick for?

"I'm boring a hole on the ground."

Sakura frowned. She saw no significance to what he was doing, but pressed on further. "What are you creating a hole on the ground for?"

Sasuke's head shot up again, his face masked with irritation.

"Go away. You're annoying," he said in between his gritting teeth before he stood, turned around, and walked away.

And as Sasuke's retreated away, his eyes barely caught a glimpse of Sakura's fallen expression.

* * *

It was almost dusk when Sasuke finally got out of his room where he spent the whole day sulking. (He _had _been rather unproductive that day.) He absently walked towards the kitchen, heading specifically at the direction of the fridge where he poked around for his favorite food.

Which, oddly wasn't anywhere to be found.

_Where the hell did all my tomatoes go?_

And so, with a small part of him wallowing in disappointment, Sasuke drew his head back, planning on going back to his room when a petite figure holding a plate of rather neatly-sliced tomatoes blocked his way.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cheerfully greeted; Sasuke's onyx eyes narrowed.

"I'm sorry if I made you angry earlier," she said, her tone sincere. "Here, I sliced you some tomatoes! I know you haven't eaten anything since breakfast."

She smiled as she handed over the porcelain plate to him, blinking as he made no move to take it whatsoever.

"I'm not hungry," Sasuke dismissed, walking past her. "Annoying."

* * *

Sasuke knew he should just talk to her and apologize. But as he looked at her saddened eyes as the Uchiha household (and Sakura) ate dinner, he found that he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Maybe because every second more he spent with her sent up a wave of raw anger through him - whether he was angry with the pink-haired girl or with himself, he didn't know.

"How has your day been, Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked at his mother, curtly saying he was fine and then went back to eating his dinner. (He vaguely wished he'd taken the tomatoes Sakura offered him earlier, because right now, he needed tomatoes to calm himself down.)

"And how about you, Sakura?"

Sasuke froze. His obsidian eyes subtly looked up to examine her expression as she answered.

"It was great, Mikoto-sama," she said, smiling sweetly at his mother. "Itachi-nii-sama taught me how to throw a kunai!"

"Really, now? Did Sasuke train with you?"

Sasuke felt all four pairs of eyes look at him.

"I was busy with something else," he shrugged.

Awkward silence followed after that. He knew his mother was still awaiting explanation but Sasuke was to be _damned _before he explained further.

Pushing his chair back, Sasuke stood up. "Thanks for the meal," he said as he stalked away to his room.

After a while, Mikoto sighed and got back to eating the rest of her meal with Itachi and Fugaku, but Sakura's green eyes never left the place where Sasuke had sat during dinner.

* * *

Sasuke's eyes flashed up when he heard his room's door slide open. Sakura was standing by it, a small hand still on one side of Sasuke's door.

"Don't you ever knock?" Sasuke snapped, glaring at the pink-haired girl. Sasuke could mentally hear his mother saying things along the context of, "Sasuke, where are your manners!"

"I-I'm sorry… I –" Sakura started, fumbling with the hem of her red shirt.

(Pink, green _and _red – who _knew _right?)

"Why are you even here?" Sasuke gritted through his teeth, glaring at the girl.

"I'm here to apologize for –"

"I meant, why are you here?!" Sasuke said, his voice raising. He was distinctly aware of how close his room was to the dining room. "You are not even an Uchiha!"

She looked at him with those green, green doe-like eyes in astonishment. "What – I – I never -"

"That's what you're trying to do, right?! You're trying to take Itachi-nii-san from me, and Kaa-san and Otou-san –"

"Sasuke-kun, I would never –"

"Well you're not going to have them, because you're not even part of our family –"

"Sasuke-kun –"

"Why are you even still here –"

"SASUKE-KUN!"

Sasuke stiffened. He hadn't realized that he just lost his temper. Sakura was looking at him now, green, green eyes watery from tears.

But she looked at him straight in the eye with conviction oh-so-strong and innocence oh-so-pure.

"Sasuke-kun," she repeated in a mellow way, head rising a little bight higher, "I respect Fugaku-sama, Mikoto-sama and Itachi-nii-sama with all my heart. I am sorry you feel that way, but I want you to know…"

Sasuke challenged her with his glare.

Sakura gulped, but she continued with steady determination. "…I would never, _ever _do anything to endanger my part here. I… I know I'm not an Uchiha, and I know I would never be, but you, Itachi-nii-sama, Fugaku-sama and Mikoto-sama are the only ones close to family I have left and – " Her hands clenched at her sides, traces of tears (If there had been any; Sasuke couldn't remember anymore.) gone. " – I would never do anything to destroy what we have, even how little it is at the moment, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke continued to stare at her, his eyes slightly narrowed, but the posture he had kept – the _proud _posture he spent so hard on keeping – slackened.

He never noticed how Mikoto had stood by his door, listening to the children's conversations, or how Sakura marched out of the room, her fists still clenched, her knuckles white, and her eyes straightforward.

Because at that time, all young Sasuke could think about was how he was going to keep the girl close to him and how she would always, _always_ be his.

* * *

**Review? (Offers pie.)**


	2. her sweet, sincere smile

**April**

Young Uchiha Sasuke watched as a certain pink-haired girl's eyes widened at the sight of her namesake.

"What are you so giddy about?" he snapped, his arms on his chest. They were wandering around the Uchiha district (care of Mikoto who again and again pestered Sasuke to take Sakura-_chan _on a tour) and all the while people kept on asking him if Sakura-_chan _was his _girlfriend_. Sasuke almost gagged. As if! Who would take an ignorant – completely _dense _– girl as a _girlfriend_?

"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun," Sakura turned to him and giggled. "It's just that I haven't seen a Sakura Tree before and I never imagined it to be _this _pretty."

Sasuke nodded, but in truth, he actually heard nothing. Sakura lost him at "_kun_."

_Sasuke-kun… _Sasuke mused. Why was he being so bothered about the way she called his name? It wasn't the first time that he was called that – his aunts and uncles called him Sasuke-kun _all _time, but why was Sakura's "Sasuke-kun" different, somehow?

"There are no Sakura Trees in Amegakure."

Luckily, Sasuke's mind was already back on track when Sakura said that statement.

"There's only moss and rain – ack!" Sakura turned away from the Sakura Tree, shuddering. She started walking again, looking around at the different varieties of plants found all over Konoha.

"You're from Amegakure?" Sasuke asked. Come to think of it, he didn't really know where she came from, and he never really tried asking before, until she mentioned it. Sasuke always thought his father stumbled upon the orphaned pink-haired girl while on his travels and brought her home.

Sakura vaguely nodded, but said nothing else. There was an odd expression on her face that he couldn't quite pick out.

She almost seemed… sad, somehow.

Just when Sasuke was about to ask her what was wrong, Sakura suddenly squealed and ran to a field full of bright yellow flowers.

"Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun!" she called him, jumping up and down.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and followed, taking his precious time.

"Sasuke-kun, what are _these _flowers called?" she asked, eyes full of excitement, as she pointed to one of the many yellow flowers.

Sasuke thought of it for a moment. "Daffodils," he replied.

"Daffodils," Sakura whispered. Sasuke didn't hear her say it, but he read her lips to decipher that she had just echoed his words.

Sasuke stared oddly at the girl_. What was she so excited about?_ Sasuke was about to ask again, when Sakura turned around, her eyes shining in the sunlight and her smile as bright as the yellow flowers all around her.

(_pink and green and red and yellow -)_

"They're pretty." Her smile widened.

Suddenly, Sasuke realized he couldn't remember what he was going to say anymore. In fact, he couldn't _think _of anything to say because as he saw the bright, sunny smile young Sakura gave him, all he was aware of was his fluttering heart.

Sasuke brought a hand to his chest; Sakura was looking back at the daffodils.

_What… is this?_

* * *

**Chapter 2: Sasuke-**_**kun**_**!**

* * *

**May**

Sakura bobbed up and down at her seat.

Sasuke looked at her like she was an alien from another planet, while Itachi watched the girl with a glint of amusement in his dark eyes. Fugaku, however, was too engrossed in whatever it was he was reading to even engage himself to whatever the children (or at least, Sakura) was so excited about.

"Mikoto-sama! Mikoto-sama! Mikoto-sama!"

"Yes, Sakura-chan?" Mikoto's voice answered from the kitchen. Sasuke could distinctly hear the pots and plate being turned, but he paid no heed as he continued looking at Sakura (who was still bobbing) rather oddly.

"When are we going to the festival, Mikoto-sama?" Sakura asked, a very, very, _very _happy smile plastered on her face.

Right then, Mikoto emerged from the kitchen, with a pot of steaming food in her hands. Sasuke and Itachi straightened at their seats, aware of how their mother could be when it came to table etiquette. Even Fugaku put his readings aside and leaned back on his chair a bit.

When Mikoto placed the steaming pot beside the table, Sasuke prepared his snicker when Mikoto would inevitably say, "Sakura-chan, please stop bobbing up and down by the table," but, to his dismay, Mikoto said nothing.

Instead, the former jounin simply put one hand on Sakura's head. However, realizing that Sakura's head had _finally _stopped bobbing up and down, he realized that his mother must have excreted more force than necessary.

Sasuke grinned wickedly to himself.

"Maybe this weekend, dear," Mikoto answered, propping down on the floor and tucking in her feet behind her. She looked at everyone around the table before saying, "Shall we?"

Sakura was the only one that nodded vigorously.

"Itadakimasu!"

* * *

**June**

"Hey, Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke raised his head to look at the pink-haired girl who was practically _skipping _before him.

"What?" Sasuke said grumpily.

Sakura, unperturbed, answered, "We're attending another festival, right? What makes this one different from the last one?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Could this girl get any denser? "Last time was a Spring Festival. We're attending one that's welcoming summer."

Sakura's mouth fell into an 'o' before she blinked a couple of times, smiled and went back to skipping.

Sasuke grunted. What was she so excited about? Festivals happened _all the time _in Konoha. Sasuke had to admit that there had been a time when he had been so excited in attending one, but after so many (each of them with Mikoto forcing them to spend some _family time _together), Sasuke couldn't find it in himself to be excited anymore.

_It's almost like she had never attended a festival all her life! _Sasuke muttered to himself.

"There are no festivals in Amegakure," he heard his older brother's voice say. Sasuke looked at him in interest. It was almost like he had read his mind!

"It's raining all the time, so most of the people just stay indoors," Itachi continued, looking ahead.

Sasuke frowned. That was right. Sakura mentioned that she was from Amegakure - what brought her to Konoha, then?

Sasuke was about to ask when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Sasuke turned to see his mother calling Sakura near.

Sakura - the ever energetic ball of hyperness she was - happily trotted towards Mikoto.

"Here," Mikoto said, giving each of the two children some Ryo. "Go enjoy yourselves. We can meet back here in an hour."

As Sasuke took his money from his mother's hand, he noticed Sakura's face light up instantaneously. The last time they attended a festival (last month), since Sasuke had forgotten to ask his parents for money, they just resorted to watching the festival, but not participating in it. Sasuke could remember the longing expression on Sakura's eyes as she watched the children play different games and eat different kinds of food.

Almost like a cue, Sakura turned to look at him, with a wide smile.

"Let's go, Sasuke-kun!" she said, taking his hand.

Much to his surprise, the moment Sakura started dragging him towards the lights, he found himself holding her hand back.

* * *

**July**

If there was one thing that could describe Uchiha Sasuke, it would be that he was _not _a morning person.

So, when he awoke on the 23rd of July to the heavy footfalls on the corridor, he groaned and covered his ears. When he realized that the footfalls were beginning to become louder and louder, Sasuke started wishing to every God he knew that the footfalls just pass by his room.

Sadly, they didn't.

In fact, when Sasuke heard his sliding door open, Sasuke realized the footfalls were, in fact, _destined _for his room.

Sasuke feigned sleep. _Really? This early in the morning?_

Sasuke heard the footfalls grow louder again. They stopped, just shy of his side of the bed.

He felt a poke on his side. "Hey, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke groaned. Of _course _it had to be _her_.

Seeing that Sasuke made no move to acknowledge her whatsoever, Sakura poked his side again. "Hey, Sasuke-kun, wake up!"

Sasuke opened one eye to glare at her, and then closed it again.

_Ignore it. She'll go away. When you open your eyes, she'll disappear._

But she didn't. What she _did,_ however, was shake him until his head hurt. "HEY, SASUKE-KUN! WAKE UPPPP!"

Sasuke swatted her thin arms away in irritation. "I'm awake! I'm awake!"

Sasuke hoped that when he gave her the hardest glare he could muster, she would whimper, cry and go away to leave him in peace. But, of course, she had to do the opposite. (Yes, she always did the opposite of what you expected her to do, didn't she?) Instead of running away, she stayed where she was, hands behind her, and with that trademark smile on her face.

"Guess what day it is today, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke opened his mouth to answer ("The day you finally go away and leave me alone?"), but a key-chain sized fuuma shuriken suddenly blocked his view of the girl.

Sasuke's brows furrowed. "What -"

"Happy birthday!"

Sasuke looked pass the shuriken to look at her seriously. He was about to retort that he wouldn't do anything with a _toy _shuriken (It was a useless, useless gift!), but that smile on her face stopped him.

Reluctantly, Sasuke took the key-chain from her hands and muttered a low, "Thank you."

Her smile brightened, delighted by his response, and she skipped out of his room.

Sasuke stared at his hand, the metal reflecting the sunlight from his window.

Slowly, a smile started to form in his face.

* * *

**August**

Sasuke sprawled lazily on the floor, looking at nothing in particular. It was the day Itachi promised to spar with him, but it was _too damn hot _outside and Mikoto forbid them to step out of the house. ("You might get sunburn!")

So, as per usual, Sasuke was stuck again (_surprise, surprise_!) with the pink-haired girl who sat by the porch, swinging her legs back and forth alternately, unperturbed by the heat.

"How can you have so much energy at a day like this," Sasuke slurred, the heat draining him. "It's too hot."

"This is the first time I'm going to experience summer, Sasuke-kun," she answered, turning her head to him slightly. "I want to enjoy it!"

Sasuke rolled his obsidian eyes."Yes, because it _always rains in Amegakure_," he drawled sarcastically.

Sakura nodded, but as he looked at her, he could see the glint of melancholy in her eyes.

Somehow, that left the young Uchiha disturbed until the end of the day.

* * *

**September**

Sasuke walked behind his mother and alongside Sakura one morning on the marketplace. After Sakura's insistent pleas about coming along for shopping, Mikoto finally obliged, but not before stating a condition first. This, somehow, some way, involved Sasuke coming along as well.

The young Uchiha scowled. The moment he had found out about the condition, he blatantly refused, but Sakura had managed to force him out of his conviction.

He knew it. He knew that he should have taken Itachi's advice when he walked by his brothers room that very same morning with a condensing smirk on his face.

"Hide. She's coming for you," he had said. Sasuke barely had time to ask who because Sakura was already in front of him begging him to ("Oh, please, please, please, please, Sasuke-kun!") come with her.

Sasuke was so engrossed in his brooding that he failed to notice that Mikoto had stopped walking, causing him to bump into her.

Sakura, having seen the whole event, stifled her giggles. Sasuke, in turn, glared.

"Good morning, Lady Uchiha," Sasuke craned his head to look at the woman in front of his mother.

"Good morning, Kaede-san," the Uchiha matriarch greeted back at lady named Kaede, who had auburn hair that was tied into a neat bun.

Sasuke noticed that Sakura was craning her head too, but not because of the same reason. Sasuke's eyes followed what young Sakura was looking at and saw a young girl, about their age, hiding behind the woman called Kaede. Sasuke could just barely make out her short dark hair.

"Is that Hinata-chan with you?" Mikoto asked. Sasuke saw the dark haired girl's face turn beet red before bowing.

"H-hello," Hinata stammered before scurrying back behind Kaede.

Sasuke felt a light tap on his shoulder. "Go on and introduce yourselves, Sasuke and Sakura," Mikoto said.

Sakura, excited at meeting a new friend leapt at the chance of introducing herself. "Hi, Hinata-chan! I'm Sakura!" she said, flashing a bright smile.

And contrary to Sakura's informal introduction, Sasuke bowed formally. "Hello," he said, straightening up and offering an uncharacteristic smile of his own. "My name is Sasuke. It's nice to finally meet you, Hyuuga-sama."

Hinata jumped at the sound of the honorific, but bowed back politely. "L-likewise, Sasuke-san."

It was when Sasuke turned away from the Hyuuga heiress that he noticed Sakura gaping at him.

"What?" he asked, slightly irritated.

Sakura pouted and pointed an accusing finger at him. "Why are you never that polite with me?!"

Sasuke just laughed and stuck his tongue out.

* * *

**October**

When his academy teacher called him to demonstrate a particular sequence of taijutsu for the class, Uchiha Sasuke was torn between refusing and accepting.

He wanted to accept because he was proud of being chosen and to uplift the Uchiha name, but he also wanted to refuse because of...

"There he goes again."

"I know. My mother said Uchiha Sasuke doesn't really have anything to be proud of. His older brother was much, much better than him when he was at his age."

...well, because _that_.

Sasuke clenched his fists, the beginnings of a refusal at the back of his mind, when he heard two of his classmates squawk in pain.

"Ow! What the hell was that for!" his classmate glared at Sakura, who, Sasuke assumed, must have taken the time to punch the two obnoxious boys in the head.

Sakura completely ignored the two boys' retorts and happily waved at Sasuke. "Go for it, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at her childishness, (He didn't need her protecting him, damn it!) but performed the taijutsu sequence anyway.

Not for the class, however, but for the girl with the green, green eyes and the sweet, sincere smile.

* * *

**November**

The November wind was cold, and Sasuke could just feel the beginnings of winter just around the corner. The young Uchiha paid no heed to this, however, and continued standing outside the Uchiha manor.

"You should know Fugaku-sama is proud of you, too."

Sasuke glared at the girl beside him. He had detected her presence since she stepped out into the foyer. "You listened?" Sasuke accused, feeling raw anger in his chest.

"No," Sakura answered truthfully, "I guessed... but I was right, wasn't I? About what's bothering you?"

Sasuke said nothing, but he guessed that his lack of answer had just confirmed Sakura's assumption.

"I will never be like Itachi-nii," Sasuke said quietly.

He hadn't expected Sakura to say something else, but when she did, she surprised him.

"You don't need to. You're Sasuke-kun," she said, as if it was reason enough.

And when Sakura turned to smile at him, he realized that it was.

* * *

**December**

When Sasuke woke up, Sakura was already on the front porch, staring out into nothingness. At first Sasuke ignored it, but when he passed by the place again and saw that she hadn't moved, concern immediately crossed his features.

"Hey," he called, trying to sound impassive. "What are you doing?"

Sakura blinked and looked at him. "Hm? Oh - I'm waiting for it to snow," she answered.

Sasuke's brows furrowed. "It doesn't snow in Konoha," he said to her bluntly.

Something crossed Sakura's features - something Sasuke had never seen her wear before. As she looked at him with her green, green eyes, Sasuke looked back and saw sadness. And it wasn't the pouting momentary sadness he usually saw when he refused to play with her or eat with her or train with her - it was _real _sadness. For the first time since he'd met her, Sakura wasn't _smiling._ Somehow and in some way, the thought of it scared him.

**"**Sakura -"

"Oh." Sakura smiled, but he knew it was fake. Her smile hadn't reached her eyes.

Sasuke's obsidian eyes narrowed. "Sakura -"

"Have you eaten breakfast? Mikoto-sama went somewhere today. She left you some food -"

"Sakura -"

"And Itachi-nii-sama said he would help you train later when he gets back -"

"Would you stop interrupting me!" Sasuke yelled, placing his hands on her shoulders. They were silent for a while, and Sasuke didn't know what to make of the fact that Sakura did all that she could to avoid his penetrating gaze. In a softer voice, Sasuke asked, "What's wrong?"

Sakura looked up at him for a moment before looking away again. "I - I just wanted to see the snow... Kaa-san said -" Sakura immediately stopped herself for some reason Sasuke didn't know. She then quickly pulled herself away from the young Uchiha's grasp and trotted to the kitchen.

"I'll re-heat your breakfast," she said, and Sasuke stared at the white circle embedded on each of Sakura's clothes.

* * *

**January**

Sasuke shoved a round object unto Sakura's arms. Sakura blinked up at him.

"Sasuke-kun, what -"

"I couldn't do it," Sasuke interrupted.

Sakura blinked again. "Couldn't do what?" She tilted her head to one side.

"I couldn't make snow," Sasuke answered through his gritted teeth. He was looking everywhere, but Sakura, ashamed at his failure. "Aniki said that it had something to do with elemental affiliation, but if I could already use the sharingan I -"

He stopped when he felt a soft, warm hand on his left arm. "I love it, Sasuke-kun. Thank you," she said and he _dared _himself to turn his head and look at her face.

And when he did, he forgot his failure, and he forgot his shame because all he cared was that Sakura was smiling again.

And it had been because of him.

* * *

**February**

Sasuke thought Valentine's Day was the _stupidest _occasion on the planet. Well, because first of all, Sasuke absolutely _hated _anything sweet and second was because whenever it was Valentine's Day, he couldn't do any training.

The occasion hadn't always been like this for him, however. The flock of girls following him everywhere to give him chocolates only stared when he had attended the academy. He would take the chocolates and mutter a polite thank you, but try his best to avoid them for the rest of the day.

So when Sakura skipped over to his room later that afternoon, Sasuke found himself glaring as hard as he could.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun, you know that you can't have too many chocolates," Sakuta giggled.

"Chocolates make me sick," Sasuke spat, still glaring.

"Even mine?" Sakura asked playfully.

Sasuke just narrowed his eyes, challenging her to try.

Sakura, already unfazed by Sasuke's glares, plopped down beside him and gave him a small red box. "Here you go," she said, smiling at him.

Sasuke gruffed, crossed his arms and looked away.

"Sasuke-kun, please? I even asked Mikoto-sama to help me with his, you know," she pleaded, pouting at him.

_Don't look. Just ignore her._

"Sasuke-_kun_!"

_"_Fine!" Sasuke grumpily said, snatching the red box from her hands. Sakura squeaked in delight. "Now go away," he barked.

Sakura just laughed at him and left the room still skipping.

As he opened her box, Sasuke prayed to every god he knew that the chocolates from Sakura wouldn't be _half _as bad as the others.

And when Sasuke swallowed the last chocolate ball, he realized that Sakura's chocolates tasted like home_._

* * *

**March**

Only heaven knew why the young Uchiha Sasuke was going back and forth from his room to the kitchen.

Well, heaven and Uchiha Mikoto, of course.

The Uchiha matriarch laughed to herself while watching her youngest son's antics. Mikoto had accidentally (oh, most certainly _not _purposely - what kind of mother would want to watch her son go up and about in such a distraught manner?) slipped that today, March 28th, was Sakura's birthday. Mikoto saw her son immediately go rigid after her revelation and politely excuse himself from breakfast (Sakura wasn't awake yet), something that earned curious glances from Itachi and Fugaku.

"Kaa-san?"

"Hmm, yes, Sasuke?"

Sasuke frowned at her mother. "I can't find where the scissors are."

"Second drawer on the right, dear," Mikoto answered, as if she wasn't paying close attention to what her son was doing.

"Thank you," Sasuke said, as he opened the drawer and brisk-walked to his room.

It was almost ten o'clock in the morning when Mikoto heard Sakura squeal in delight at what Sasuke had given her.

Her son had given her a hand-made birthday card because he didn't have anywhere to buy from so early in the morning, and because he didn't have time to simply _think _of what to give her. But she knew it had been enough.

After all, it was always Sasuke that could make Sakura smile.

* * *

**Five years later**

"Hey, Sasuke-kun, have I told you that you suck at drawing?"

"Hn."

* * *

**A/N:** A lot of you followed but didn't review... How am I supposed to know why you're following this story, if you won't tell me? :(

( _aminatsu032. tumblr. com_ )

**I shall give away cookies to those who will review. :3**


	3. her place in this world

Your name?

_Haruno Sakura!_  
_**Uchiha Sasuke.**_

Your age?

_I'm eight-years-old!_  
_**Seven-years-old.**_  
_Ha-ha, Sasuke-kun, I'm older than you! You should call me Onee-chan!_  
_**You're only older by three months! And you act like a five-year-old...**_  
_Hey!_

Favorite color?

_Pink!_  
_**Black. Pink is for sissies.**_  
_WHAT WAS THAT?!_

Favorite food?

_Dumplings! ... oh-oh! And ice cream!_  
_**Tomatoes.**_  
_Who the hell likes tomatoes, Sasuke-kun?_  
_**I do. Got a problem with that?**_

Favorite animal?

_Dogs! Especially puppies!_  
_**Hawk... I think.**_

Who would you like to marry someday?

_Wh-what...?! I-uh..._  
_**...What is the significance of asking this kind of question?**_

Your ambition?

_I'd like to become a strong ninja*, and to be able to protect the ones I love!_  
_**To become the leader of the Konoha Military Police Department, just like my father.**_

What do you do in your past-time?

_I like reading books a lot!Oh, and playing with Sasuke-kun!_  
_**Training with my big brother... and keeping Sakura company, I guess.**_

What is your dream?

_To live a happy life with my loved ones!_  
_**I want to make my father proud of me.**_

* * *

**Chapter 3: Family**

* * *

**April - Approximately 6 hours before present**

Uchiha Sasuke was angry - no, Uchiha Sasuke was _livid. _Well... as livid as a child could be anyway.

He was sitting alone on a swing, his chin on his palms, glaring at everything and nothing at the same time. He was waiting for Sakura, again, who was yet to come back from wherever that blond girl she's always been with lately took her.

Of all the things Sasuke hated, he hated waiting the most. Time wasted on wasting could be time spent on training, he would always say. And now, he needed training the most.

Sasuke was the top of his year at the ninja academy and he got lessons faster than anyone else, but compared to how his brother did, he knew it wasn't enough. Sasuke was seven-years-old and he knew it was a good four years before he could graduate. He was exceptional, yes, but not exceptional enough to finish ninja schooling this year and become ANBU four years later. Sasuke glared harder. Itachi had done all those things, so why couldn't he?

... And where the _hell _was Sakura, anyway?!

"Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke turned his death glare at the little girl who stood in front of him, but she seemed oblivious.

"Let's go home!" she cheerfully said, offering him her hand.

Sasuke's obsidian eyes narrowed. "Where have you been?" he asked, ignoring her extended hand. "And what," he pointed at the red ribbon on her hair, "is _that?_"

Sakura, seeing that Sasuke made no *sign what-so-ever of taking her hand and strolling into the sunset, absently touched the tip of the red ribbon tied to her haid. "Oh, this?" She smiled. "Ino-chan gave it to me. She said I looked cute with it."

A vein popped on Sasuke's forehead. _Ino... that loud-mouthed girl who always took Sakura away from him -_

"Ne, Sasuke-kun, do _you _think I look good with it?"

Sasuke's train of thought stopped for a moment as he took her appearance in. He supposed she looked cuter with the ribbon on... but he was certainly not going to tell her that.

...So he shrugged, instead. "You look the same."

Sakura dropped her hand. "Oh."

And for a moment, Sasuke felt like biting back the comment. He knew he couldn't, though, so he took her hand instead.

Sakura's green eyes looked at him questioningly.

"Let's go home," he said, standing up.

Sakura blinked a couple of times before smiling slowly. "Okay!"

* * *

**September – Approximately 7 months before present**

"I can walk on my own, you know," Sasuke said, turning head away from his older brother.

Itachi turned to the boy he carried at his back and smiled softly. "Don't push yourself," he said softly.

Sasuke heard a snicker from the girl walking beside his brother. "Nii-sama's right," Sakura said, sticking her tongue out at him. "I mean, who's stupid enough to slip and twist his ankle on training, right?"

"Shut up," Sasuke rolled his eyes and glared. He was about to add something else ("Who's stupid enough to miss every target at training practice?") when he saw a familiar building when they were passing through.

Sakura followed Sasuke's line of vision, her green eyes curious, and Itachi, noticing his brother's silence asked, "What's up?"

"That building is where Otou-san works at, isn't it?" Sasuke asked, still looking at the building.

"It says 'Konoha Military Police Force'," Sakura read.

"Yes," Itachi answered. "It's their headquarters."

Sasuke barely noticed that they had stopped because he was looking at a large insignia on the middle of the building – it was the Uchiha Clan symbol in the middle of a shuriken. "I was wondering…" he started, "Why is the crest Uchiha Clan part of the police force insignia?"

"Well, you finally noticed, then," Itachi commented absently, staring at the insignia himself.

"Of course I did." Sasuke glared half-heartedly.

"What's the story behind this, then?" Sakura asked Itachi, her doe-like eyes patiently waiting for an answer.

"Let me see if I can explain it for you," Itachi started, addressing the both of them. "It was the Uchiha Clan's earliest ancestors who established the police force here in the village, so when they created the symbol for the organization, they used the family crest.

"Since a long time ago, the Uchiha has always ensured the peace here. The crest is the testament of the clan's pride and a way of life, centuries old.

"Over the years the Uchiha clan has grown smaller… but even now, nearly all of us are a part of the force and work to uphold the peace in the village," Itatchi's onyx eyes looked at the younger Uchiha with a smirk on his face as he continued, "which is good because only the most exceptional of shinobi can weed out the criminals hiding among their brethren."

Sasuke's eyes widened in amazement. He had never thought that his father's job involved something so… noble… and just. "Wow," Sasuke murmured. "Otou-san is the coolest."

"Itachi-nii-sama," Sakura called out softly. Itachi turned to the pink-haired girl who seemed lost in her thoughts. "Are you going to join the force, too?"

Itachi seemed to think of it for a moment before answering. "Well… I'm not sure."

"Why not?" It was Sasuke who asked this time. Itachi just looked at his brother, offering no answer, but Sasuke continued. "When I grow up, I'm definitelygoing to enter the police force. And Otou-san's coming to tomorrow's entrance ceremony – it's the first step to my dream!"

"That's right," Itachi said.

When Itachi turned again and continued walking towards their house, Sasuke hadn't noticed Sakura lingering by the building, watching the insignia with an expression of longing in her face.

As they reached the Uchiha District, Fugaku stepped out from the shadows, his arms crossed in his chest and a glare present on his face.

"You're late Itachi," he said, staring straight at his oldest son. "What have you been doing? I need to talk to you."

Sasuke, who was still on Itachi's back, immediately noticed the emblem on his father's jounin attire. _The Uchiha Clan symbol in the middle of a shuriken…_

"Let's go," his father said with finality before turning around and walking to lead the way.

* * *

"That's my boy – for you to have come this far just six months after making chuunin," Fugaku said, eyeing his oldest son.

Sasuke tried to ignore the hurt in his chest at the fact that Fugaku had made no move whatsoever to acknowledge his presence in the room.

"About tomorrow's special mission," Fugaku continued, "I've decided to go along with you."

Sasuke stiffened.

_Tomorrow_?

_But tomorrow was_–

"If you complete tomorrow's mission tomorrow, Itachi, your entrance into ANBU Black Opts will be assured." Fugaku's black eyes turned into crimson red. "Do you understand?"

_If Otou-san wasn't going to be there tomorrow _-

"You don't have to worry about me out there," Itachi answered. "And, more importantly –"

Itachi met Sasuke's eyes and with a nod, encouraged him to speak. "Otou-san… tomorrow afternoon is –"

"This mission tomorrow – it's not just about you. Your performance will reflect on our entire clan."

Sasuke frowned and looked away. It was no use. He was never going to listen to him. It was always Itachi. Always, _always, always _Itachi.

"Actually," Itachi started. "I'm going to pass on the mission tomorrow."

Fugaku's eyes immediately widened. "What?! You have to! Do you understand how important this is?! You'll do _no such thing_!"

_Always, always, always –_

"But tomorrow is Sasuke-kun's entrance ceremony in the Academy!"

Three pairs of onyx eyes looked at the pink-haired girl beside Sasuke.

_Sakura_?

He had forgotten she was even _in_there.

Sakura looked straight at Fugaku's sharingan with fierce determination. "You cannot _not _come tomorrow to the ceremony, Fugaku-sama," she said with a softer voice, but the determination was still there. Sasuke watched as the pink-haired girl spoke for him.

_Why_?

Seconds ticked by.

_Why did she care so much_?

"Our family has to attend," Itachi followed, looking back at his father's eyes. "It's customary at the academy. You received the notes, remember?"

Fugaku's eyes widened and red faded into black.

"Alright, I get it," he said, standing up. "I'll be at the academy tomorrow."

And as Fugaku exited the room, Sasuke slowly looked at the girl beside him who was still clutching the hem of her white dress like she was holding unto her life.

Slowly, he reached out to her clenched fists.

And slowly, her eyes met his.

_Thank you._

Her grip on her dress loosened.

_Thank you for caring_.

* * *

Later that night, when Sasuke went to the kitchen to get a drink before going to sleep, he saw Sakura sitting by the front porch by herself staring into the dark sky.

"Hey," he called. Sakura turned her head to him and smiled.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun," she greeted.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. There was something… off about her smile this time. "Why are you still up?" he asked, tilting his head to one side.

Something crossed Sakura's face and Sasuke couldn't quite put what it was.

"Sasuke-kun, do you think I –" Sakura hesitated for a moment before she sighed. "D-Do you think I could… enroll at the Academy, too? And attend the ceremony even if I… don't have…" she trailed off, but he knew what she was going to say.

And so he flicked her forehead – hard.

"Ow! What was that for, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura pouted as she glared at the raven-haired boy.

"Annoying," Sasuke scoffed. "Of course you can."

_You're a part of this family, too._

* * *

"I want to congratulate all of you! You have a lot of hard work ahead of you as you walk the path of the shinobi –"

The Sandaime was speaking in of the academy students, but Sasuke was only half-listening. He turned his head behind him at the crowd of people and relief immediately flooded through him as he saw his father's familiar figure standing not so far away.

"I expect great things. I know you will make Konohagakure proud.

_He's here._

Sasuke smiled.

_He's here._

* * *

"It seems like it was only yesterday when you were here for Itachi, huh?" The man in jounin attire looked from Fugaku to Sasuke. "And you look just like him!"

Sasuke smiled, feeling his neck go red.

"Thank you for your help," Fugaku said bowing his head slightly.

"It was nothing. It's been a pleasure," the jounin said. "That boy of yours is a true prodigy – there hasn't been anyone like him in the history of the academy!"

"You're too kind."

The jounin laughed. "Not at all!" He turned to Sasuke again. "We expect big things from you as well, Sasuke."

Fugaku looked at his son as well. "Become a fine shinobi… just like your brother."

_Just like your brother_.

"Yes… Otou-san."

* * *

**October – Approximately 6 months before present**

_"__My mother said Uchiha Sasuke doesn't really have anything to be proud of. His older brother was much, much better than him when he was at his age."_

" – and these girls started teasing me about my wide forehead and, OH I SO WANTED TO PUNCH THEM – hey, Sasuke-kun, are you still even listening?"

Sasuke nodded absently, but the truth was, he had missed half of what Sakura had said. There was a training session again at the Academy today and although he tried his best to drown out all the whispers around him, he couldn't help but be affected by what his classmates had to say.

He was tired, so tired, of being compared to Itachi, so, _so_tired of living underneath his shadow.

Beside him, Sakura frowned and stopped walking. "Sasuke-kun," she called, but Sasuke made no move to slow down.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun." She reached for his hand and he stopped. "What's wrong?"

Sasuke pressed his lips together and looked away. "It's nothing," he said, taking his hand from her and walking away.

_Become just like your brother._

* * *

**November – Approximately 5 months before present**

Sasuke walked at the wooden corridors of the manor, on his way to his room one night when he passed by his father's room.

"That's my boy," he heard him say. Sasuke stopped walking. "You'll go far in the ANBU ranks, no doubt about it."

Sasuke clenched his fists.

_Become just like your brother._

* * *

**December – Approximately 4 months before present**

Sasuke panted heavily in the middle of the training grounds. He missed – _again_! Why couldn't he ever get it right?! Itachi had hit all the targets in one try, so why?! Why couldn't he do the same?!

And so he decided. He was going to try again.

_One more time._

"Sasuke-kun…"

_It's still not good enough._

"Sasuke-kun, let's go home…"

_I've still got a long way to… go…_

Around him, the forest grew blurry, and all he remembered was black… and a certain voice calling out to him.

* * *

"Sasuke, this is your day-off, dear. You need to give your body some rest," Mikoto said, dressing her youngest son's bruises and cuts.

"Mikoto-sama is right, Sasuke-kun! I was so worried when you passed out! I didn't know what to do!" Of course Sakura was beside him, helping Mikoto with her bandaging.

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, but forgot what he was going to say when he felt a searing pain on his left arm. "Ow!" he cried.

"You don't have to push yourself too hard," Mikoto continued.

Sasuke frowned. "I know but… they say Onii-san graduated from the academy in just a year."

"Times have changed, Sasuke… and… your brother is… special," Mikoto said slowly, looking at Sasuke's sad face.

"It's okay, Sasuke-kun! You're strong, too!" Sakura piped, smiling at him.

Sasuke just looked at her with a nod, remembering the events from just a month before.

_"That's my boy."_

_Otou-san…_

Sasuke clenched his fists.

…_I wanted you… to say that to me, too._

* * *

**January – Approximately 3 months before present**

Sasuke sat with excitement before his father. Their report cards had been released that day, and he was happy to know that he had fared well. Sakura, whose grades were also among the highest, jumped in joy when he saw his, but Sasuke cared only for the opinion of one person.

Fugaku's onyx eyes skimmed through the paper and then looked at him.

Sasuke looked at him in anticipation.

"Keep excelling like this and you'll be just like your brother."

And, just like that, all excitement and happiness and anticipation he felt immediately vanished.

_Become just like your brother._

* * *

**February – Approximately 2 months before present**

"What did you say?! What do you mean you can't participate in the assembly?!"

Sasuke opened his opened his onyx eyes.

_Otou-san?_

"I don't think you understand your *place!"

Slowly, the young Uchiha sat up, his mind clearing from sleep. It was no mistake – that was his father's voice. Why was he still up? And why did he sound so… angry?

Sasuke stood from his bed and quietly went to the room where the voices came from. It wasn't far – just about two rooms from his own.

"I'm setting out on a mission tomorrow." It was Itachi who was speaking now.

_It's the middle of the night… why are they still up with the lights off?_

Sasuke slightly opened the sliding door, taking a peek inside. Fugaku and Mikoto were facing their oldest son… and there was a certain aura in the room that Sasuke didn't like.

"And what is this mission you are talking about?" Fugaku demanded, his voice still thick with anger.

"I can't tell you," Itachi answered coolly. "The mission is classified."

Slowly, Mikoto glanced at her husband, studying his reaction as if she was ready to stop him if he made a move to harm their son.

Fugaku's frown deepened. "Itachi," he said, his voice low and serious, "you also have responsibilities to our clan. You know that you also serve as the pipeline to the village's nerve center. You know that don't you?"

"Yes."

"Don't you forget that, Itachi," Fugaku ordered. "You _will _be in that meeting tomorrow.

Sasuke heart beat hard against his chest. What was this? Why were they fighting? What did they want Itachi to do?

And, as if he heard his thoughts, Itachi suddenly called out his name. "Sasuke."

Sasuke's heart beat louder against his chest.

"Use the bathroom and go to sleep," Itachi continued.

Reluctantly, the young boy opened the sliding door further and nodded.

The rage in Fugaku's eyes was unmistakable. "What are you doing roaming the house at this time of night?!" he yelled, standing up. "Get to bed!"

"Yes, Otou-san."

He barely saw the look of warning in Itachi's eyes as he closed the door.

* * *

"Father only cares about you, Itachi." Sasuke clenched his fists. He had been sitting alone on the back porch when Itachi quietly joined him. Somehow, he felt guilty that his statement had been his welcoming greeting.

"You probably hate me, huh?"

Sasuke raised his head. His brother was smiling… but there had been something about that smile that seemed melancholic, somehow. _Why_?

"It's alright," Itachi continued. "People often think ill of shinobi. It's only logical for you to hate me."

Something suddenly hit Sasuke's chest then. He did – he _did _hate Itachi. He had always, always been walking on his shadow. He was the better brother. He was better – always better. It was always Itachi, Itachi, Itachi –

"That's not how I feel!"

…Yet somehow, he had to deny that he felt that way about him. After all, he was his brother. And he loved him. He respected him. With all his heart.

Beside him, Itachi grinned. "Being the best isn't always at it seems. When you have power, you become arrogant and isolated from the world; no matter how coveted or sought-after you are at the beginning." With this, Itachi looked away, but continued speaking. "But with us, it's different because you and I are family. I'm always going to be there for you – even if it's only as an obstacle for you to overcome. Even if you _do _hate me. That's what big brothers are for."

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, but a foreign voice suddenly crossed the hallways of the manor.

"Is Itachi in there?! We need to talk! Get out here!"

Sasuke watched as Itachi slowly got up and walked to the front door. After a while, he followed.

_Who were those people? What did they want?_

"What can I help you with?" Itachi asked in a calm voice.

There were three men by the door – all of them he recognized for they were all Uchiha. But what – what did they want with Itachi?

"There were two people who didn't show up at yesterday's assembly," one of the men said, glaring straight at Itachi. Sasuke noted his long black hair. "Do you want to tell me why you weren't there?"

Sasuke's eyes widened in realization. _The meeting otou-san was talking about last night! That means Onii-san didn't go after all…_

"You're at the ANBU Black Opts now," the man continued. "I know very well that you can be called away at a drop of a hat – and that's the case your father was trying to make when we asked why you weren't there."

"But we're not your father," a man beside him – a man with graying hair – piped in. "You won't be getting any special treatment from us."

Itachi bowed slightly at the men. "I understand," he said evenly, unfazed at the obvious anger radiating from their 'visitors'. "I should have been more careful. Will that be all, then?"

The man with gray hair smirked. "You know what, before we go, there's just one other thing."

Itachi looked expectantly at him.

"Do you know anything about Shisui Uchiha's suicide at Naka River?"

At this, Itachi's eyes widened. Sasuke looked at his brother fearfully.

_Suicide…?_

"Shisui was the other person who didn't turn up at the assembly," the man with the long black hair said, eyes scrutinizing. "It's funny – if I remember correctly, you kind of looked up to him like an older brother."

Itachi closed his eyes. "How terrible," Itachi said, but fostering no sympathy in his voice. "Forgive me, I haven't seen him at all recently. What a tragedy."

The man narrowed his eyes. "Yeah," he said slowly, not at all taking Itachi's answer as a cue to leave. "At this point, the police force has no other choice but to launch an all-out investigation into the matter."

"Investigation?" Itachi echoed.

Sasuke saw the man with the gray hair take something from his clothes and hand it over to Itachi. "This is the note Shisui left behind. We've already had it analyzed – there's no question that this is his handwriting."

Itachi ignored the paper being handed over to him. "You say it was suicide – why do you have to investigate?"

"Because it would be no great feat for someone who possesses the sharingan to copy his handwriting," the man with the long hair answered, just as Itachi took the paper. "The most talented of the Uchiha Clan – feared as 'Shunshin no Shisui', the teleporter – was a man who would do anything and take any mission if it was for the good of the clan."

"Hard to imagine a man like that ending his life, right?" the man with the gray hair added.

"You shouldn't judge people by how they look," Itachi said, "or by your own preconceptions."

The three men ignored his statement. "We'll leave that to you for now. You're part of the ANBU, so you can put in a request for _them_to start an investigation of their own."

"I understand," Itachi answered.

Just as the men started to leave, the one with the long hair added, "By the way, we have our own connections inside of ANBU Black Opts. You *try to sweep this investigation under the rug and we're gonna know about it."

Suddenly, Sasuke saw his brother's expression change. His fists clenched around the paper he was holding, and his shoulders were rigid.

"Why don't you just say it straight?" he said, his voice threateningly dark. Sasuke then noticed that the men had already activated their sharingan. "You believe that I had something to do with this, don't you?"

"Yes, that's right," the man with the long hair answered, eyes red – sharingan spinning –

"Listen Itachi – if we ever find out that you betrayed this clan, I want you to know that you'll pay for your wrongs!"

It seemed that was the last draw because Itachi was suddenly at them, beating the triad up. Sasuke looked at the sight fearfully. His brother was beating the life off of these men by his own – he looked like… he was a different person…

_Onii-san…?_

"Like I said before," Itachi said, once the three men were sprawled to the ground in defeat. "Appearances and preconceptions aren't going to tell you anything. For instance, you've made a mistake of assuming that I'm a patient man.

"The clan – the clan! You overestimate your own abilities that you have no idea of the depth of my own. And look at you now… groveling in the dirt."

Sasuke couldn't believe his eyes. He had never seen his brother like this before – he was always calm and controlled. He knew his brother, but this man… this man he didn't know.

"Shisui has been keeping an eye on you recently – the strangeness of your behavior," the man with gray hair rasped. "Almost half a year into your time at ANBU – it's impossible to overlook. What the heck are you playing at you filthy little wrench!"

"Obsessed with the organization – obsessed with the clan! Obsessed with our lineage – your worthless compulsion enslaves us, limiting our abilities, leading us to fear what we don't understand."

"Stop it, Itachi!"

Sasuke's eyes glanced at the new voice.

_Otou-san!_

"What's happening to you?! " Fugaku yelled. "You've been acting strange lately."

"I have my own duties to fulfill," Itachi said evenly.

"Why didn't you come last night?" Fugaku asked.

"…To achieve the next state," Itachi answered.

Fugaku narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?!"

Before Fugaku could ask again, Itachi had pulled out a kunai and threw it directly on the Uchiha Clan's crest.

Sasuke's eyes widened. That crest was made of concrete! How could a kunai _pierce_ something like _that_?!

"I've had enough," Itachi said menacingly, facing his father. "There's no hope left for this pathetic clan."

_"Since a long time ago, the Uchiha has always ensured the peace here. The crest is the testament of the clan's pride and a way of life, centuries old."_

_Onii-san.._

_"That's my boy. You'll go far in the ANBU ranks, no doubt about it."_

_What… have you done?_

"The people of this clan are all the same," Itachi continued. (Eyes red, sharingan spinning -) "You focus on the trivial and lose sight of the most important. Change is impossible in the fog of ignorance. How can we evolve when regulation is all we know?"

"Such arrogance!" Fugaku exclaimed.

"That's enough! If I hear any more of this nonsense, I'll have you thrown behind bars!" the man with gray hair added.

_"Being the best isn't always at it seems. When you have power, you become arrogant and isolated from the world; no matter how coveted or sought-after you are at the beginning."_

_Onii-san… why…?_

"I can't take this anymore!" the man with long hair yelled. (Eyes red, sharingan spinning -) "Please, Captain! Just give me the order!"

Sasuke opened his mouth. This had to stop – it had to –

"PLEASE! STOP!"

Sasuke watched as Itachi, Fugaku and the others freeze visibly. Even he froze in surprise.

_What –_

"Please stop this!"

_Saku –_

"Sa-Sakura…"

Sasuke's onyx eyes trailed to the girl in the middle of the four men, arms spread away from her body. Sasuke saw the brave face she was putting up… but Sasuke knew better. Sakura – she…

"Please… stop this…"

…she was trembling in fear.

_Sakura?_

And, as if realization finally hit him, Itachi fell on his knees to the ground.

"I'm not the one who killed Shisui," he said, bowing low at the four Uchihas before him, "but I apologize for the words I have spoken. I am truly sorry."

Sakura slowly turned to Itachi, eyes unreadable.

"He's been very tired lately," Fugaku sighed. "He had been on so many missions on ANBU."

The men turned to him disbelievingly. "B-but Captain –"

"The ANBU are under the direct control of the Hokage," Fugaku interrupted, his voice hard and final. "Even if you wanted to arrest one of them, you would need to get a warrant first."

"As for Itachi," Fugaku turned to his eldest son. "I take full responsibility for him. You have my word."

The men gave Itachi one last hard look before looking away. "Very well, sir."

Sasuke barely noticed the three men leaving and his Father going back inside the Uchiha Manor because as he went to where Sakura was frozen on the spot, he could have sworn that Itachi's sharingan had changed…

_A three-sided shuriken?_

"Sasuke-kun…"

Sasuke then met Sakura's green eyes that were studying him with worry. He knew what that look meant. "Are you okay?" was her silent question.

Sasuke vaguely nodded as his gaze followed his brother's retreating figure.

_Onii-san…_

…_what have you done?_

* * *

**April – Present**

Sasuke was awoken by the hushed voices outside his bedroom.

" - is too much. We are going on with what we've planned. I cannot do anything to change it anymore."

That had been his father... and he sounded rather angry. What could have been the problem, then?

"Cannot do anything!" his mother scoffed. "You could always do something, Fugaku! You even convinced the Sandaime to give Sakura to _your _custody! You are the captain of the Konoha Police Force! Don't tell me you can't do anything -"

"I thought _you _of all people would understand why we need to do this," Fugaku interrupted, gritting his teeth together.

"We don't _need _to do anything except stop this nonsense! Think about our children -"

"Itachi can take care of himself."

"And Sasuke?" Sasuke froze at the sound of his name. At first he thought that he had been discovered, but he then realized that they were just talking about him. "He's only seven, for Kami's sake!"

"Sasuke can take care of himself, too," Fugaku answered, but Sasuke noticed that his voice had sounded hushed. Nonetheless, he felt a swell of pride in his chest when he heard what his father thought of him.

"And Sakura?"

Three beats followed. Fugaku then answered, his voice clear as crystal, "Sasuke will protect her."

The young Uchiha slowly drew back, the reason for his mother and father's conversation out of his head. He had forgotten how or when they started regarding Sakura as family, but Sasuke found himself agreeing to what his father had said.

No matter what, Sasuke would always, _always _protect Sakura.

* * *

**A/N:** I want to offer my heartfelt gratitude to Hanna Inuzuka for editing this chapter! Thank you! :)

Just want you guys to know that the next chapter won't be a timeline anymore. (winks)

Here are your cookies! Review please :3


	4. her promise

"Sakura-chan, you're so lucky! You're parents are such strong shinobi!"

Young Sakura raised her head to see the person who had spoken. It was a girl with long brown hair that was tied into a braid and green eyes. Beside her were two others – a young boy and another young girl – but unlike the brunette, they didn't seem to be interested in talking to her.

"I heard they defeated members of that enemy shinobi group – _wow, _they're so cool!"

The pink-haired girl smiled and a blush found its way to her face. "Th-thank you," she said softly, gathering the colorful pebbles she had been playing with since before the three children arrived.

She had been sitting beneath a rain shelter by the gates when the three arrived, garbed in heavy rain-proof attires.

"It must be cool having shinobi as parents – I hope _my _parents are shinobi, too!"

Sakura tucked a lock of her short pink hair behind her ear. "I-I guess…"

The brunette gave her a toothy grin before waving. "We have to go, then. Goodbye, Sakura-chan!" the girl said as she began to run under Amegakure's never-ending rain. The two other children followed, and when they thought Sakura couldn't hear, they started whispering frantically at the brown-haired girl.

"Are you crazy, Momoko?! Why did you talk to that child! Her parents are dangerous!"

"Katsuyu's right! Her parents might come after you if you get on her wrong side!"

"You two are being silly! I think she's nice –"

Sakura didn't get to hear the rest of the conversation because they had already ran far enough that Sakura's sharp ears weren't able to hear them anymore.

Sakura sighed, standing up and dusting her clothes. Taking her rain gear from the concrete chair, she started walking back home.

_Home…_ Sakura mused. _ She was always safe when she was home._

* * *

**Chapter 4: Home**

* * *

"Listen Itachi – if we ever find out that you betrayed this clan, I want you to know that you'll pay for your wrongs!"

Sakura abruptly stopped walking, almost tripping as she did so.

"Hmm? Sakura-chan? What's the matter?" the woman beside her asked, looking at her with genuine concern.

"Something's wrong," Sakura barely whispered before turning to the Uchiha matriarch whom she'd accompanied to the market that afternoon. "Please excuse me, Mikoto-sama. I shall be going on ahead."

Mikoto had barely nodded before Sakura was on her heels, running as fast as she could.

_Something is wrong…_

"The clan – the clan! You overestimate your own abilities that you have no idea of the depth of my own. And look at you now… groveling in the dirt."

Sakura's green eyes widened. _That was Itachi-nii-sama!_

What was going on?! Why had she heard a foreign voice just now?!

"Obsessed with the organization – obsessed with the clan! Obsessed with our lineage – your worthless compulsion enslaves us, limiting our abilities, leading us to fear what we don't understand."

Sakura ran faster, her short breaths following shortly after another. And when she had finally arrived at the corner where the voices came from, a loud, commanding voice crossed her hearing.

"Stop it, Itachi!"

Sakura suddenly stopped, as if she had been the one commanded at by the man she feared and respected at the same time. Hastily, she hid behind a large wooden post, catching her breath as she peeped quietly at the scene.

It seemed that Fugaku had just arrived at the scene where three men were sprawled on the ground and Itachi was standing in the middle as if _he _had been the one responsible for their beating.

Sakura's green eyes widened in realization. Looking slowly at the older of the Uchiha brothers, she quietly organized her thoughts.

_Was he, though?_

_No._

_Itachi-nii-sama would never hurt anyone from the village – let alone from the Uchiha Clan!_

Sakura looked back at the three ninja.

But all the clues were right in front of her!

_Had Itachi-nii-sama really –_

"What's happening to you?!" she heard Fugaku ask his son. "You've been acting strange lately."

"I have my own duties to fulfill," Itachi answered evenly.

"Why didn't you come last night?"

"…To achieve the next state," Itachi said.

From afar, Sakura could see Fugaku's body grow rigid. "What are you talking about?!"

_The next… state?_

Sakura couldn't help but gasp at what happened next. Itachi had taken a kunai from his pouch and had thrown it full-force at one of the Uchiha crests embedded on the wall.

_Itachi-nii-sama… what…?_

"I've had enough," Itachi said menacingly, facing his father. "There's no hope left for this pathetic clan."

Sakura's knees shook. She had never seen Itachi like this! He looked… different… dangerous… and for the first time in a long time, Sakura was scared. She hadn't felt this scared since…

The young girl trembled.

…since –

_"OKAA-SAN!"_

_Blood. Blood everywhere._

_"Sakura! Hide! You have to hide! You have to –"_

_Blood. Blood on her mother's face, blood on her mother's back, blood on the floor, blood everywhere –_

_"OKAA-SAN!"_

_No – no – no, please no! STOP!_

_Please!_

**_STOP!_**

She hadn't realized it, but Sakura had run to the scene, arms spread wide, in the middle of the Uchihas.

"Please…" Sakura's lips quivered. "Stop this…"

Three beats passed.

Sakura barely registered Itachi as he fell on his knees unto the ground.

"I'm not the one who killed Shisui," he said, bowing low at the four Uchihas before him, "but I apologize for the words I have spoken. I am truly sorry."

Hesitantly, Sakura followed Itachi's bowed form.

_Is it… over?_

_A hand found its way to her shoulder. "Sakura…"_

_Green met green. "Chichi-ue…"_

_"Sakura… stop crying," her father said, looking back at the crowd of people garbed in all black._

_"But Nanami-oba-chan… she's…" Sakura sniffed and bowed her head. "She's dead…"_

_The hand on her shoulder squeezed gently. "You have to be used to deaths, Sakura."_

_Sakura slowly looked up again._

_"Such is the life of a shinobi."_

When Sakura finally came to her senses, she realized that the gentle weight she felt on her shoulder had not been her imagination.

Sakura looked up to the person standing beside her, eyes as unfocused as hers had been just a moment ago.

"Sasuke-kun…"

Sasuke looked at her at the sound of his name, meeting her green-eyed gaze. There was something in the young Uchiha's eyes that was off, but before she could open her mouth to ask if he was doing alright, Sasuke had already nodded, having understood her question before she had even asked it.

Sakura didn't believe him, of course.

But if he didn't want to talk about it, then she wouldn't force him to.

* * *

"Wow. You sure have a wide forehead."

A vein popped on the top of her head. "What was that?!" Sakura whirled around and flexed her fingers at the group pointing at her from a distance. "Why don't you come and say that to my face, you dimwits!"

The trio cringed in fear, but one – their leader, perhaps – collected her courage and talked back. "Don't think you've got anything to be proud of! You don't have Sasuke to defend you this time, so don't think –" The leader gulped, seeing that Sakura – who was radiating such an ominous aura – was now walking towards them.

"K-K-K-Kitsune –" one of the girl's companions began, tugging her sleeve. "I-I-I think we sh-shouldn't push her –"

"Like I need Sasuke-kun to defend me from you buffoons!" Sakura said, grinning menacingly while cracking her knuckles. "You're just insects for me to swat."

The girls cringed even lower.

"Ki-Kitsune… I think we should go…"

The girl called Kitsune glared as hard as she could, but her fear was written all over her face for Sakura to read. "D-Don't think we're scared of you, forehead freak!" Kitsune stammered, while the three began stumbling away from the pink-haired girl. "You're just not worth out time!"

"Che – cowards," Sakura muttered, rolling her green eyes, when someone patted (or rather, _slammed _her palm) unto her back.

"Atta go, forehead girl! I must admit I'm rather proud of you!"

Sakura grinned at the familiar voice. "Ino."

Yamanaka Ino grinned wider as she watched Sakura collect her things from her desk.

"What can I say?" Sakura winked. "I learned from the best!"

Ino laughed, her baby blue eyes shining with amusement. "What did I tell you? '_When someone teases you about your forehead again_'…"

"…punch them in the gut and don't let them know what hit them!" Sakura finished, throwing her fist in the air.

Ino sighed. "Sakura, I remembered saying '_don't let it affect you_'." The blonde looked at the direction the trio ran off to. "But I guess punching them in the gut works, too," Ino continued wickedly.

Sakura laughed as she walked out of the academy, with Ino following closely.

"Who are you looking for?" Ino asked, her hands behind her and watching the pink-haired girl's eyes scan the area.

"Hmm? I'm looking for Sasuke-kun. Have you seen him anywhere?" Sakura answered absently.

"Actually, I did." Ino paused. "I think he already went home. The Uchiha compound's that way, right?" The blond girl pointed to the direction of the compound.

"Yes," Sakura answered, knitting her brows together. She frowned. "Why did he go on without me?"

Ino shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe he got tired of you?" Ino teased.

Sakura stuck her tongue at her friend and started walking to the Uchiha compound. "Whatever, Ino," Sakura said, trudging back home.

* * *

"Tadaima!"

Mikoto turned around slightly to smile at the girl as she entered the kitchen. "Okaeri, Sakura-chan."

"Mikoto-sama, has Sasuke-kun arrived yet?" Sakura asked, walking towards the Uchiha matriarch to help her prepare dinner.

"Ah, yes," Mikoto answered. "He arrived, but he left again shortly after."

"Oh." Sakura frowned. So Sasuke really _had _left her. Maybe Ino was right. Maybe Sasuke _was _tired of her and had rather grown irritated that she made him wait all the time. "Did he say where he was going?"

"Hmm, I believe they went to the dock," Mikoto answered as she chopped the vegetables for dinner.

"They?" Sakura echoed. Sasuke was with someone else? Inwardly, Sakura frowned. She knew of no one else who could have accompanied Sasuke to the dock – the dock was used by the Uchihas for training fire jutsus. Sasuke and Sakura often watched Itachi train there. But as far as Sakura could remember, Itachi was away on an ANBU mission, so who _was _with Sasuke?

Mikoto, noticing Sakura's confused expression, smiled down at the girl. "Fugaku went to teach Sasuke a new jutsu," the Uchiha matriarch informed with a satisfied expression on her face.

Sakura's green eyes looked at Mikoto, astonished. "Really?"

Mikoto nodded. "Mm-hm. They should be back just in time for dinner. Why don't you help me with the preparations, Sakura-chan?"

A wide grin broke into Sakura's face as she vigorously nodded. "Alright!"

It was then Sakura decided she would forgive Sasuke just this once for going home without her.

* * *

But Sasuke went on without her for the days that followed, saying he had to go and train. Sakura doubted that he knew that she knew Fugaku had trained him. Nonetheless, Sasuke made no move to tell her, so she didn't push him into the matter, nor did she follow him as he went to train.

On the third day, however, young Sakura decided she could hold back her curiosity no longer.

_Sasuke-kun's been at this for days!_

Quietly, Sakura peered from the trees into the dock as she watched Sasuke make his hand seals.

_Horse. Tiger. Ram. Monkey. Boar. Horse. Tiger._

Sasuke took a deep breath.

"Katon: Kokakyu no Jutsu!"

And as he exhaled, Sakura watched as an array of yellow, orange and red danced together just above the lake waters. She had seen Itachi do the same technique before, but seeing Sasuke do it felt different somehow.

When Sasuke finally released the technique, Sakura watched as he fell on his knees and panted hard of exhaustion.

"It's still not good enough," she heard him mutter.

Sakura pressed her lips together. She knew how Sasuke was – once he set his mind on something, he wasn't going to stop.

And so with a newfound determination, Sakura walked back to the Uchiha manor with a certain goal on her mind.

* * *

"Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke stopped on his tracks and turned to the pink-haired girl who was walking – or rather, _skipping_ – towards him with a medicine box on her hands.

Sasuke blinked. "What is it?"

Sakura didn't answer. Instead, she took a tube from the box and applied a cooling ointment on his face. Sasuke flinched at the initial contact, but as the gel seeped unto his burn marks, he thought it felt good.

When Sakura wither her finger, Sasuke began to move away, but Sakura had been quick to stop him.

"Just hold on a little bit," Sakura said, applying cooling gauzes unto Sasuke's face. "Mikoto-sama said this was very effective for burns."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes a bit, eyeing Sakura accusingly, ("You were spying on me?") but said nothing. This time, when Sakura withdrew, she let him go.

"Good luck, Sasuke-kun!" were her final words before skipping away.

* * *

The next day, while Sakura cracked open her textbook on the Shinobi Rules, she heard Sasuke's loud footsteps along the corridor.

"Otou-san!" she heard him call.

Hastily, but with a stealth of a ninja, Sakura placed her book back to her shelf and opened her door slightly to see what was happening.

Fugaku turned his head towards his younger son as he continued. "Just once more. Will you come watch me one more time?" Sasuke asked with full-fledged determination on his young features.

Sakura's green eyes widened in excitement. Has Sasuke done it?

"I told you it's too soon for you," Fugaku replied, his face and voice serious. "I could teach you everyday for a week and it wouldn't help."

Nonetheless, Sasuke's resolve did not falter. "No," the young Uchiha said. "Not teach me – _watch _me."

Sakura saw Fugaku's eyes widen slightly as her heart fluttered in delight. Yes, Sasuke had done it – she _knew _he would be able to!

_I'm so proud of you, Sasuke-kun!_

"I think I've got the hang of it, Otou-san," Sasuke prodded at Fugaku who was staring at him blankly.

As the two went to the dock with Sasuke leading ahead, Sakura silently followed, eager to watch the achievement of the young Uchiha.

_Horse. Tiger. Ram. Monkey. Boar. Horse. Tiger –_

"Katon: Kokakyu no Jutsu!"

And as Sasuke exhaled a gigantic ball of fire, Sakura knew she felt proud of him – proud of his efforts, proud of his strength. Sakura's green eyes looked back at the Uchiha clan's leader whose expression was as unreadable was always.

But Sakura knew that just like her, Fugaku was proud of Sasuke.

When the jutsu ended, Sakura found that both she and Sasuke was looking at Fugaku expectantly and that the pang of disappointment they both felt were evident when Fugaku turned around and started to walk away.

Sakura almost wanted to come out of the bushes to ask Fugaku what he thought – _why _Sasuke's efforts weren't enough. And she almost did it, if not for the words Fugaku uttered as he went.

"That's my boy."

Sakura saw Sasuke's head shoot up towards his father in surprise.

"You've done well. Work hard and you're bound to soar high and to bring honor to that crest you wear on your back."

Slowly, Sasuke began to smile as he looked at his father with pride. "I will!"

"From now on, work your own path," Fugaku continued. "Not in the footsteps of your brother."

When Fugaku went out of sight, Sakura couldn't contain herself anymore. And so she jumped away from the bush she was hiding at and ran arms-wide towards the startled Sasuke.

"I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT, SASUKE-KUN!"

"Wait – what are you –"

_Splash!_

"Great! _Now_ look what you've done!"

"I'm so proud of you, Sasuke-kun!"

Sakura could just make out the small smile on Sasuke's drenched face.

* * *

"You both fell unto the lake?" Mikoto asked, with an amused gleam on her eyes,

Sasuke pointed an accusing finger at the pink-haired girl. "It was _her _fault for tackling me all of a sudden!"

Sakura, who chose to ignore Sasuke's accusation, bobbed up and down from her seat. "Mikoto-sama, you should have seen Sasuke-kun! He was so cool!"

A blush quickly formed on the young Uchiha's face. "What are you –"

"I bet he was," Mikoto said, smiling at Sakura. Sasuke, who was beside her was now scowling for being ignored. "I wish I was there to see it, Sakura-chan."

Sakura grinned and went back to eating her lunch.

After a few moments, Sasuke spoke, but his tone was not as lively or as playful anymore. "Okaa-san…"

Mikoto paused from washing the dishes to look at her youngest son. "Hm?"

"I was wondering… about Onii-san and I…" Sasuke trailed off. Beside him, Sakura looked at Sasuke's fallen expression curiously. "What does Otou-san really think of us?"

The slight widening of Mikoto's eyes was enough indication that she had been caught off-guard by the sudden question. "Why do you suddenly ask that?" the Uchiha matriarch inquired.

Sasuke thought about it for a moment before answering. "It was something Otou-san said when we were at the dock…" Sasuke started. "He said to me, 'That's my boy' – that's something he only ever said to Onii-san. So it made me really happy to hear it."

Mikoto smiled. "Of course. I'm glad it did," she assured.

"But then I started to wonder," Sasuke continued. "Now that Otou-san and Onii-san aren't getting along…"

The smile on Mikoto's face faded.

"Am I… just… someone to replace my older brother?"

Sakura looked from Sasuke to Mikoto, and for once, she found that she had nothing to say. What _could _she say to make Sasuke better? He just looked so… sad…

Mikoto sighed before replying. "Your older brother is your older brother, and you are you. But your father has always cared very deeply about both of you."

"But he's only thought of Itachi before now!" Sasuke pressed on, determined to get some answers for himself.

"Well, if it sometimes seemed that way, it's only because your father is the leader of the Uchiha Clan," Mikoto answered without a second thought. "He has to make sure it's kept safe."

"What's _that _got to do with it?" Sasuke asked.

"Your brother is the first born; he's older than you are," Mikoto replied, smiling. "And as the first born, he's going to have to assume his responsibilities earlier than you will. So since it's your father's job to look after the clan, it's only natural that he wants to be sure that Itachi's ready to take on his role."

Sasuke looked away, seemingly still unconvinced.

Was it true, then? Sakura asked herself. Was that really the reason?

"I'll tell you a secret, though," Mikoto whispered, leaning over to Sasuke. "When we're alone and no one is around, the only one he talks about is you, Sasuke."

Sasuke's eyes widened. ("Really?")

Mikoto let out a light laugh. "He has a hard time showing it," she said, "but it's how he is."

Sakura looked at Mikoto, frowning. She didn't want to doubt what Mikoto had said, but Sakura knew what they frequently talked about when they were alone – it was Itachi. Her room was close to their quarters and she often caught them conversing late at night.

The young girl looked at Sasuke who was still looking a little bit happier. Not wanting to make him feel bad again, she chose not to say anything.

But one look at the regret and melancholy in Mikoto's eyes and she knew she was right.

* * *

"-so I'll probably leave before you because Ino and I need to finish our flower-arranging project - hey, Sasuke-kun are you even listening?"

Sakura frowned deeply when Sasuke absently nodded. It was obvious that he hadn't been listening to her, because if he had, he would've thrown some sarcastic comment at her about the kunoichi curriculum being "ridiculous".

The pink-haired girl was about to confront the young Uchiha when he suddenly skidded into a stop. There was a conflicted emotion on his face as he looked on and when Sakura couldn't figure out why, she looked to the direction he was staring at.

By the door was Itachi, preparing to leave.

A bucket of cold dread washed over her.

_Is Sasuke-kun going to ask him about what Mikoto-sama said?_

"Aniki," Sasuke started, completely ignoring the girl beside him. (Had it been any other time, she would have thrown a fit, but she was more concerned with what the young Uchiha was thinking right now.)

Itachi turned to face his brother, silently asking him what was it Sasuke wanted to tell him.

"Can you help me with my shuriken jutsu later?" Sasuke asked, letting out a small, careful smile.

"I'm busy, Sasuke." Itachi looked away. "Why don't you ask Chichi-ue to teach you?"

Sasuke frowned. "Even _I_ know that _you're_ better than Otou-san when it comes to shuriken jutsu," he said, indirectly prodding him to reconsider his decision.

Itachi stared at Sasuke for a while before beckoning him closer.

Sasuke, thinking that Itachi had heeded his request, excitedly walked towards his brother... only to be poked on the forehead.

"Ow!" Sasuke said, rubing his forehead with the back of his hand. Behind him, Sakura giggled.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," Itachi began. Somehow, both the children knew what he was going to say next. "Maybe next time."

When Sakura quieted down and Itachi was just about to leave the house, Sasuke spoke up. "You always do that!" he said, frustrated. "You always knock me on the forehead and say 'I'm sorry, Sasuke. Maybe next time.'"

Sakura saw Itachi's eyes soften a little bit, but he said nothing as he left.

A few beats passed until Sakura decided to break the silence between Sasuke, who was still standing on the same spot and frowning at the door, and her.

"Well, I'd better be going, too, then," Sakura chirped, turning towards the kitchen.

"Going?" Sasuke echoed. "Going where?"

The pink-haired girl sighed. It seemed that she was right about Sasuke not listening earlier.

"I already told you," Sakura replied, "Ino and I are going to finish our project for the flower arranging class."

Young Sasuke scoffed and crossed his arms. "The kunoichi curriculum is so ridiculous."

Inwardly, Sakura laughed. It seemed that she was right about that too.

Choosing not to start an argument that had already been argued before with Sasuke, ("Culinary arts and flower arranging are essential ninja skills!" "No. They're ridiculous. The time you spend in those ridiculous things should be spent on training.") Sakura popped her head into the dining area and announced to the Uchiha matriarch that she was leaving. (Fugaku was nowhere to be found at the moment.)

"Wait, don't forget your lunch!" Mikoto called, handing over a neatly-packed bento box to the girl.

Sakura smiled widely. "Thank you, Mikoto-sama!"

Mikoto laughed. "Just call me Okaa-san, okay, Sakura? I don't feel like I deserve being called that all the time," she said, smiling at the surprised Sakura.

Sakura blinked at the woman, completely caught off-guard. Mikoto-sama was Mikoto-sama. Calling her otherwise would be downright rude!

...But if it was what Mikoto-sama wanted, then Sakura guessed she would try. "O-okay, Mikoto-sa - I mean, Mikoto-okaa-san," Sakura said, pink tinging her round cheeks.

Mikoto nodded once and smiled at Sasuke who was surprisingly silent. "How about some breakfast, Sasuke?"

"Alright," Sasuke mumbled, entering the kitchen.

When Sasuke was out of sight, Sakura bowed at Mikoto and turned to left, hurrying to the direction of the academy.

Somehow, she couldn't take her mind off of what Mikoto had suggested she called her. But she guessed that Mikoto _was_ now who she considered as her 'mother' and she felt so happy that Mikoto regarded her as her daughter as well.

But was it really okay? Was it really okay to let her guard down around all these people? Was it really okay to regard them as her _family_? To regard this place as her _home_?

In the middle of her thoughts, Sakura bumped into something - or, rather, some_one_.

Sakura looked up, her apology already on the tip of her tongue, when she recognized who the person was.

"Itachi-nii-sama!"

Itachi half-smiled at the girl. "Already heading to the academy, Sakura?"

"Yeah!" Sakura replied, nodding. "I have a project to finish."

"Let's walk together, then," the older of the Uchiha brothers said. "It's on the way, anyway."

Sakura's green eyes lit up as she nodded again, delighted at the idea that Itachi was going to walk her to school - well, sort of. But her excitement was replaced with confusion when Itachi started walking to another direction.

"Itachi-nii-sama?"

Itachi turned towards the young girl with evident amusement on his face. "I know a shortcut," he said.

* * *

"Itachi-nii-sama?" Sakura called to the Uchiha walking just in front of her, breaking the silence.

Itachi just looked at her in reply, just as he had replied to Sasuke earlier that morning.

"Why do you..." she began, mentally formulating her words. "Why do you almost always reject Sasuke-kun's requests to train with you?"

A brief expression of shock crossed Itachi's face, but it was gone as quickly as it arrived. After a pause, Itachi answered, "I am not fit to teach him anything. He must find his strength on his own."

The pink-haired girl frowned. "But you are an Uchiha and an ANBU - you're a really great shinobi, Nii-sama."

"Greatness is not measured by appearances, Sakura," Itachi replied. "Or by how you see other people."

Sakura furrowed her brows in confusion. Anyone in ANBU _had_ to be great! Similarly, everyone under the Uchiha name was destined for greatness... right?

"For instance, you, Sakura, can be described as merely an innocent child," Itachi further explained, looking at the girl. "One does not simply see how observant you are about a lot of things or how intelligent you can be."

The young girl blushed from the complement and for once found that she couldn't think of a reply.

The prodigy of the Uchiha clan just called her intelligent!

"Sakura." Itachi skidded to a stop, eyeing the girl seriously. "Promise me you'll watch over Sasuke when I'm gone, okay?"

Sakura blinked up at the Uchiha. "Are you leaving, Itachi-nii-sama?"

"I won't always be there for him," Itachi replied.

"Alright," Sakura answered, smiling, without so much as a second thought. (Of course she'll watch over Sasuke-kun!) "I promise."

The girl didn't even notice that Itachi hadn't really answered her last question.

* * *

It was after dusk when Sakura finished all her work and went back home. Happily, she thought of the events that happened recently - Sasuke mastering the great fireball jutsu, Mikoto telling her to call her "Okaa-san", her little conversation with Itachi earlier. It seemed unreal, really, that she had found her little place in a group of people who wasn't even related to her and in a village she wasn't even born in.

And when Sakura thought about it in a deeper sense, she really _was_ heading back home.

Humming softly, young Sakura started to skip towards the Uchiha District and wondered absently what they were going to have for dinner that night. But as she neared the site, she instantly noticed something was amiss.

"Huh?" Sakura muttered to herself, squinting her eyes at the dim image before her. That was strange... it was already dark outside, but not a single light was on.

_Maybe something bad happened!_

Abruptly, Sakura stopped her train of thoughts knowing very well where they were going. No, she said to herself. She was not going to think like that. Maybe they just wanted to conserve energy or something...

With cautious steps, Sakura began walking forward again, her body slightly trembling.

"_Okaa_-_san_!"

Suddenly, Sakura found it hard to breathe.

_Fire. Fire everywhere -_

One look and Sakura knew.

_"Okaa-san, what's happening?!"_

One look at their sorrowful, pained faces and she knew.

_"Sakura, stay back! Hide! Whatever you do, don't come out! I will come back for you!"_

One look at their bloodied, mangled bodies and she knew.

_A step back. Green eyes widening -_

All the people she had seen just this morning - all the people who had greeted her, given her gifts, smiled at her, _accepted_ her -

_...home was where it was always safe._

- they were all dead.

_Okaa-san...? Otou-san...?_

It happened again - why? WHY?!

_Where... are you...?_

Sakura's trembling hands reached forward, touching something that wasn't there -

_"My name is Fugaku... what's your name?"_

And just like that, Sakura felt like a bucket of cold water was poured down on her.

Where was Fugaku and Mikoto? Itachi? _Sasuke_?!

With renewed strength, she willed her feet to move as she took the shortcut she had discovered that morning and ran towards the Uchiha main house.

_No - It can't be! Sasuke-kun and the others can't be dead!_

Sakura slid the door open. "SASUKE-KUN!"

In the darkness, she could barely see anything, but when her observant eyes caught sight of the blood-smeared footsteps on the wooden floor, she felt like her heart had stopped beating.

Pure fear ran through her veins as her mind played different scenarios about what could have happened over and over. With stiff feet and trembling fingers, she began to open the doors of the manor one by one. And on the fourth room - Fugaku and Mikotos quarters - she found them: the gruesome bodies of the Uchiha patriarch and matriarch, the bodies of the people she considered as her second parents.

_"Okaa-san! Otou-san! Where are you?!"_

But where were Sasuke and Itachi? Could it be that they've escaped? Could they still be alive?

_A sob. "Okaa-san... you said you would come back for me..."_

Fighting the tears that were fighting to fall, Sakura ran out of the manor. She had to find Sasuke and Itachi - they had to be alive!

"Itachi-nii-sama!" Sakura shouted at the sky. Her voice had sounded so hoarse, so _pained_ and so, so _small_ that she almost didn't think _she_ had been the one who'd spoken. "Sasuke-kun!"

Sakura ran through the bloody streets, calling frantically, _desperately_ at the only two people who could still be alive.

_"...why did you all leave me?"_

"Sasuke-kun! Itachi-nii-sama!" Sakura's voice cracked as her whole body trembled. "Where are you...? Please... answer me!"

It was then she saw him, curled up into a ball on the ground, eyes bloodshot but very much alive.

"Sasuke-kun!" she called out, stumbling her way at the youngest Uchiha. "Sasuke-kun, what happened? Are you okay?"

She propped him up, cradling his head in her arms. "Sasuke-kun, what happened?" she asked again, her voice softer and her tears flowing freely from her eyes.

"...Itachi...he..." Sasuke began, tears also leaking out his eyes. He was trembling as well, but it wasn't from fear.

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura pressed her palms on each side of Sasuke's face and beckoned him to look at her, but his onyx eyes remained averted. "Tell me what happened..."

And the first time Sakura forced Sasuke to tell her something, she instantly regretted it.

"Itachi killed them all." Tears fell from Sasuke's eyes and Sakura saw as their onyx color faded to red. "I'll kill him."

Then, Sakura knew. Sasuke trembled because of fear - he trembled because of pain, anguish and hatred.

"I'll kill him, Sakura," he repeated, his voice muffled by his uneven breathing.

"Shh..." Sakura hushed, cradling him again and pulling him close.

Sakura cried even harder.

She cried because she knew she couldn't replace Fugaku, who had been the man Sasuke respected the most.

She cried because she knew she couldn't replace Mikoto, who had loved so much and who expected nothing in return.

She cried because she knew she couldn't replace who Sasuke thought Itachi was - the brother who he'd always look up to, the brother whom he had always been proud of.

She cried because she knew she couldn't replace the whole Uchiha Clan, all of whom that kept the peace and order in all of Konoha.

And mostly, she cried because she knew. She knew how it felt to be left alone in this world. She had been lucky that Fugaku had been there to give her a new place in this world and she was more grateful than anything.

Wiping her tears from her eyes and willing herself to be strong, Sakura embraced the youngest Uchiha - the _only_ Uchiha left - with everything she had.

And then she swore - she swore that even though she couldn't replace anyone who had died on that tragic night, she would always be Sakura.

And Sakura would never, ever leave Sasuke.

It was a promise.

* * *

**A/N: **Your reviews about the last chapters are lovely. Thank you so much. Please tell me what you think of this one, too. ;)


	5. her brothers

When he first laid eyes on her, he thought she was the very epitome of beauty. He watched as she leaned down towards the sea of yellow upon her feet, her pastel pink hair dancing in the wind. He watched as she picked one daffodil after another, smiling as she did so. He watched as her green eyes sparkled in the sunlight. He watched as her pale skin glowed, adding more depth to her unique magnificence.

He watched... and waited.

Who was this girl? And why had he never seen her before?

He took one step forward, opening his mouth to ask what her name was when a foreign voice caused her to perk up and smile even wider.

"Sakura!" the voice said.

He blinked as his gaze followed where she was looking. She was looking at a black-haired boy who was about his age. The black-haired boy looked familiar, yet he couldn't quite place where he had seen him before.

He looked back at 'Sakura' (as the black-haired boy called her) with fascination. He watched as she gathered her bundle of daffodils and ran towards the black-haired boy. He watched as she held the daffodils towards him. He watched at the black-haired boy rolled his eyes and walked away. He watched as 'Sakura' frowned in disappointment, but followed the black-haired boy nonetheless.

He watched... and she looked at him.

His eyes widened in surprise. Had she noticed he'd been there all along?

She looked at him... and smiled.

He felt his heart skip a beat. No one had ever smiled at him before.

And when Sakura turned back to the black-haired boy and started walking away again, he pressed a hand unto his heart.

"I, Uzumaki Naruto," he said, so soft that only he could hear, "am in love."

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Children of the Dead**

* * *

Twelve-year old Haruno Sakura stretched her arms and sighed.

"Sasuke-kun, what's taking you so long?" she called behind her, at the raven-haired boy who was still inside their shared apartment. "It's a sunny day outside, the birds are singing, the trees are dancing -"

_WOOOOSHHH_!

Sakura blinked twice.

Was that...

...a flash of orange?

Sakura craned her neck at the direction the orange blur disappeared to, but there wasn't any trace of anyone.

The pink-haired girl shrugged. It must have been her imagination, then.

"NARUTO! GET BACK HERE!"

...or not.

Three ninja in standard Konoha uniform - no, make that four - suddenly came running past her.

_What_. _The_. _Hell_?

"THIS TIME YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR! YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH PAINTING ON THE HOKAGE MOUNTAIN!"

And as quickly as they appeared, they were gone.

Sakura looked at the direction of the Hokage Mountain (as most people called it) and saw that it was, indeed, painted over with technicolor graffiti. (The person responsible did a very bad job at it, if she might add.)

Slowly, Sakura grinned.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun!" she called again. "How do you feel about catching bad artists?"

Sasuke (who had just finished tidying up the dining table) barely had time to grumble a reply ("About _what_?") for Sakura was already on her feet, trailing after the parade of ninja.

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto laughed to himself quietly, watching as the ninjas who were pursuing him had just unknowingly passed _by _him.

_That_ _was_ _too_ _easy_, he thought to himself, dropping the camouflage blanket he used to blend himself into the wooden walls of Konoha's streets.

Naruto turned with pride back to the direction he went from when he suddenly stopped on his tracks.

Before him, in the middle of the road, was a certain pink-haired girl with green, green eyes. She smiled at him and Naruto's heart fluttered.

_This_ _day_ _couldn't_ _get_ _any_ _better_!

Sakura opened her mouth to speak, and to Naruto, this all happened in slow motion. Of course she was here to congratulate him for a job well done! Then afterwards, she was going to ask him - the AMAZING Uzumaki Naruto - on a date and they would get married and have babies and -

"He's here!" she said.

Naruto blinked at the girl who had spoken. "Who's here?" he asked dumbly; Sakura just continued smiling at him.

"THERE HE IS!"

A shiver ran down the blonde's spine. Oh no - that wasn't good.

"WE'VE GOT YOU NOW, NARUTO!"

Naruto looked from left to right, but he was in the middle of two wooden walls. In front of him was Sakura (who had betrayed him!) and behind him... well, behind him was his eternal doom and damnation.

...So Naruto just braced himself for the impact of four completely grown up shinobi tackling him to the ground.

"OOMPH!"

It all happened so suddenly.

"Thanks for helping us out, Kid!" one of the shinobi said to the pink-haired girl who hadn't moved from her spot at all.

"It was no problem, Sir!" Sakura pleasantly said back.

Naruto shed a waterfall of tears as the four ninja dragged him towards the Hokage Tower. ("Sakura-chan betrayed me! She sold me out!") He hadn't even noticed a certain dark-haired boy scowling in the background.

"Well, wasn't that an exciting way to start the day?" Sakura asked sweetly at the still-scowling Uchiha once Naruto and the four shinobi were out of sight.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It was a total waste of time."

* * *

"Naruto! What you did was irresponsible and totally out of line!"

Uzumaki Naruto rolled his cerulean blue eyes. Too much, the last straw, can't get any worse - Naruto had heard it all. But that never stopped him, he thought wickedly to himself, hiding a mischievous grin.

"Don't you know who the Hokage are? They're -"

Naruto abruptly cut off his brown-haired teacher. "-the best ninja of their time, I know," the blonde said, grinning wider, pressing his hands at the back of his head - something he did to show his carefree nature. "And I'm gonna be one of them, Iruka-sensei! Believe it!"

Iruka pressed his lips into a hard line, as if contemplating on continuing to lecture the blonde or just getting on with the class activities for the day. (As if the former worked, anyway.) After a while, Iruka sighed. "Fine then," he said, finally deciding on the latter. The jounin turned to his class and said in a louder voice, "Today we're going to practice your transformation jutsu! Sakura, you go first!"

"Hai, Sensei!" the pink-haired girl said cheerfully as she walked towards the front of the class. Naruto couldn't help but grin widely at her magnificent beauty, totally forgetting that she sold him out just that morning.

Sakura raised her hands to her chest and performed a hand sign before transforming into the mirror-image of their jounin sensei.

"Transforming into me, very impressive," Iruka mused, scribbling something unto the paper he was holding. "Next! Uchiha Sasuke!"

As Naruto watched Sakura skip back to her seat, he saw the look she and the Uchiha boy shared. Naruto frowned to himself. Why were those two so close anyway? Whenever he saw Sakura, she was always with that frowning, brooding, totally _emo_ Uchiha Sasuke. What was the deal with them? As far as _he_ knew, they weren't together, _together_... were they?

"Hey!" Naruto abruptly jumped from his seat at the sound coming from directly beside him. He _knew_ that voice!

"Sa-Sakura-chan!" he stammered, feeling his heart beat loudly against his chest. How had he not noticed her coming?!

Sakura smiled widely, completely oblivious to his inner contemplations. "Sorry for this morning!" she said. (Naruto totally missed that she wasn't sounding sorry _at_ _all_ because he was busy staring at her smiling face that reminded him so much of the first time he'd met her.) "No hard feelings, okay?"

The blonde gulped. "Y-yeah, sure, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, scratching the back of his head.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something else, when a gruff voice interrupted her.

"Sakura," Sasuke said, with a half-hearted glare.

Sakura glanced behind her to see the Uchiha staring at her expectantly before waving and smiling at Naruto for the last time.

Smiling goofily, he almost missed his name being called by his sensei. "Naruto, you're up next!"

"Alright!" Naruto stood abruptly, with an air of purpose around him to impress the pink-haired girl sitting on the last row of the classroom.

And when Naruto did the transformation jutsu hand seal and transformed into a sexy, _naked _girl, everybody gaped, Iruka-sensei's nose bled and Sakura guffawed loudly.

Uzumaki Naruto cracked a triumphant grin. _Mission_ _complete_!

* * *

"Hey, Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka turned to his blonde-haired student, who was inhaling ramen beside him, and waited expectantly.

"Can I..." Naruto trailed off, swallowing his food and putting down his chopsticks for a second. "Can I borrow your forehead protector?"

Iruka blinked at the boy, surprised by his request. "Is that why you took off your goggles?" he asked, looking at the goggles that was folded messily on Ichiraku's counter.

Naruto turned away, looking embarrassed. "Well, _can_ I?" he pushed.

Iruka paused for a moment, before laughing loudly. "You have to pass the genin exam first, you know that, Naruto," he answered.

The blonde's expression turned crestfallen, "I was thinking today might be an exception," he said quietly.

Iruka's dark eyes softened at the blonde. He was so full of life - so full of energy, that it was almost like...

"_OTOU_-_SAN_! _OKAA_-_SAN_!"

_"Iruka, you can't go there -!"_

_"But my Otou-san and Okaa-san -"_

"Iruka-sensei?" Iruka was abruptly pulled out from his thoughts.

"What is it, Naruto?"

"All I have to do is to pass the genin exam, right?" the blonde asked, and Iruka almost missed the question behind the question. Just outside the Ichiraku stand were two civilians, whispering and pointing at the young boy as if he had an incurable disease.

...Maybe he _did_, but that didn't make him any less of a person, didn't it?

He was so strong, Iruka mused to himself. Despite how he was being treated, he still had the strength to smile...

After a short pause, Iruka answered. " Yes."

_Become a genin, and become a great ninja, Naruto. Then they would have to accept you._

* * *

"For your exam today," Iruka-sensei's booming voice echoed all over the classroom. Several pairs of eyes looked expectantly at him, each with determined looks on their faces, "you will have to perform the clone jutsu!"

Amidst the "Yes!" all around the classroom, one student let out a loud groan.

...And that was Uzumaki Naruto.

_This_ _can't_ _be_! Naruto fretted inside of his head. _I suck at the clone jutsu! It's my worst technique!_

But as his name was called, he knew that he couldn't back out. Not now, not ever. He was going to become a great ninja! He was going to become a Hokage!

Naruto raised his hand towards his chest and performed the hand seal. "Kage Bunshin Technique!"

A loud poof was heard and, beside him, a shadow clone appeared... looking rather pale and... sickly...

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Ahehehehe..."

Iruka pressed his lips together into a thin line as he looked at his student seriously. "I'm sorry, Naruto," he said, "but you fail."

Naruto blinked at his sensei. "No - wait! You have to let me do it again -"

"Next!" Naruto froze. Iruka had completely ignored him. Iruka, who had encouraged him to take the genin exam in the first place. Iruka, who he had thought believed in him.

With a heavy heart, Uzumaki Naruto left the room, leaving his sensei behind.

"Don't you think we should have passed him, Iruka?" a silver-haired jounin asked him as he scribbled notes unto his sheet of paper.

"The other students made at least three perfect clones, Mizuki-sensei," Iruka answered passively as the next student came walking towards the proctors.

Beside him, Mizuki said nothing as he gazed at the direction Naruto previously occupied with contemplation.

* * *

He had failed.

It was the first time he had failed, but, somehow, the feeling felt the same. He still felt the empty longing for success inside of him.

But it was okay. He could always try again next time... right? After all, that was what he did best - stand back up again. He was not going to give up. Even if he had to take the exam ten, a hundred or even a thousand times, he was still going to take it. Because if he became a ninja, people would accept him.

_A mother, ushering her child to hide as he passed. "Don't go near him. He's dangerous."_

If he became a ninja, he would finally be recognized as a somebody.

_A store owner, throwing one of his masks at him because he had looked at it. "Just take it, go away and never come back, wretched beast!"_

If he became a ninja, people would look up to him.

_His classmates, talking about him at one corner of the room. "My mother told him that he was not good company. We better stay away."_

If he became a ninja, he would finally (finally, finally) have somebody.

Uzumaki Naruto let out a heavy sigh. If such was the life he had to go through to achieve his dream, then so be it.

He looked up at the clouds.

But why did it have to be so painful?

"Naruto."

Naruto looked up at the person who had spoken. He recognized the shoulder-length silver hair and the soft expression from the academy.

"Mizuki-sensei," he remembered.

"Can I join you?" Mizuki asked, smiling.

Naruto moved to his right to give space to the jounin. "I don't mind," he said, already feeling a little bit cheerful. He _never_ minded company.

When Mizuki had settled beside the boy, he spoke again. "I'm sorry about the exam," he said, sounding sincere.

Naruto blinked at the silver-haired man, surprised. "It's okay, Mizuki-sensei," he said, grinning. "I'll try again next time! And next time, I'll succeed! Believe it!"

Mizuki looked at him like he didn't believe him at all. "Let me tell you a secret," the jounin started, sounding pitiful. "Do you want to pass the exam?

Naruto inched towards his companion, eagerly nodding.

"Then, I want you to listen..."

* * *

"HOKAGE-SAMA, THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!"

The old Sarutobi looked at the person running towards him with eyes wide and frantic.

"What is it, Mizuki-sensei?" Iruka, whom he was just talking to a while ago, asked.

"It's Naruto!" Mizuki hurriedly answered, gulping. "He has stolen the forbidden scroll!"

The Sandaime's dark eyes widened.

"This is bad," Iruka murmured beside him; he silently agreed. Two jounin squads had already positioned themselves before him, awaiting orders.

"Send a search team to find him - bring back the scroll at all costs!"

The jounins bowed low. "Hai, Hokage-sama!"

* * *

Sakura awoke in the middle of the night feeling that something was wrong. Ino called her intuitions (which were usually correct) psychic abilities, but really, Sakura was just good at calculating things.

So when she heard light tapping on the roof of her and Sasuke's shared apartment and the wind picking up just outside her room's window, Sakura knew something was going on.

Quietly, the pink-haired girl walked toward her window and listened to the hushed voices outside.

"Where could he have gotten to!" The voice sounded gruff and mature, with an underlying frustration of not accomplishing a task yet - it must be a ninja, Sakura decided.

"There aren't many places Naruto could have gone," his companion answered, sounding equally frustrated. "Come on, we have to keep looking!"

And then they were gone.

Sakura straightened and walked briskly towards the room just across from hers.

She purposefully opened the door and shook the sleeping Uchiha awake.

"Sasuke-kun!" she whispered urgently. Sasuke groaned and opened one eye to glare at her.

Sakura, unperturbed, continued, "Sasuke-kun, you have to get up, Naruto's in trouble!"

Sasuke rolled his eye and closed it again, turning away from her.

Sakura shook him harder. "Sasuke-kun, come _on_!"

"What happens to him isn't any of my business, Sakura," Sasuke answered, his voice thick with sleep.

"But he's our friend!" she whined.

"He isn't mine," Sasuke countered, feeling more and more awake. "And he isn't yours either. You hardly even know anything about him."

Sakura's expression hardened wither seriousness as she withdrew her hands. "I know enough."

When Sasuke didn't say anything, nor made a move to get up, she continued. "I know you do, too. He's just like us, Sasuke-kun. He doesn't have anyone -"

Sasuke irritably got up, glaring at the pink-haired girl. His sudden action had surprised Sakura, but she wasn't going to back down. Sakura glared back. "If you're not coming, then I'm going alone," she said after a while, standing up.

Just as she walked out his room, Sasuke was suddenly beside her, scowling and muttering the word annoying.

Inwardly, Sakura smiled.

* * *

Iruka heaved and caught his breath. He stood in front of his blonde student, glaring, while Naruto grinned triumphantly at him, holding the large forbidden scroll to his chest.

"Man, Mizuki-sensei was right! This scrolls is difficult!" Naruto panted, looking equally as tired. "I only had time to learn one technique, Iruka-sensei!"

Abruptly, all his anger towards the blonde vanished, and his expression was replaced with a confused one. "What -"

"So..."

Iruka quickly turned behind him at the familiar voice. Mizuki was perched on a tree branch, looking at the two with an amused expression.

"You found where Naruto was," he continued, looking mildly amused. "Congratulations."

"Mizuki, what did you -"

The silver-haired man interrupted him, and at the same time, answering Iruka's unasked question. "I guess taking the scroll and running away wouldn't be as easy as I thought it would be." Mizuki took one of the shurikan he carried on his back, crouching into a battle position. "But easy, nonetheless."

Iruka inwardly cursed as he took a kunai from his weapon holster. "Naruto," he said in a low voice, "run."

Naruto unconsciously hugged the large scroll closer to his chest as he took two steps backward, contemplating on running for his life or staying with his sensei.

"Don't tell me you're going to listen to him, Naruto," Mizuki taunted. "Iruka never believed that you would become a great shinobi."

Iruka gritted his teeth. "Naruto -"

"After all, why would he when _you're_ the reason his parents died all those years ago?" the silver-haired man continued, completely ignoring Iruka's protests.

"Mizuki, stop -!"

"Didn't you ever wonder why the people are always avoiding you?" Mizuki asked, his voice tinted with pure malice. "It's because you have a demon inside of you, Naruto! You house the kyuubi - the very same monster that killed thousands of people twelve years ago, including Iruka's parents!"

Naruto's eyes visibly widened, as he shook with realization.

_"Don't go near him. He's dangerous."_

_"Go away and never come back, wretched beast!"_

"Naruto don't listen to him!" Iruka barked, anguish burning in his chest.

"You can't tell me I'm lying, Iruka. You can't hide the truth from him anymore," Mizuki said, watching the blonde closely. Watching as his face looked expectantly at his sensei, as if challenging him to tell him it wasn't true.

_Tell me he's lying!_

Iruka looked at his student with a pained expression. "Naruto..."

And just by looking at his face, Naruto found his answer. Mizuki-sensei wasn't lying - he... he was a kyuubi vessel? A nine-tailed fox demon was inside of him? Was that why...

_"Wretched beast!"_

Naruto did what the thought was best to do at that moment.

He ran.

* * *

Iruka turned angrily towards his co-jounin. "How can you do this, Mizuki!" Iruka yelled. "How can you betray the village like this?!"

"This wretched village only ever cares about the strong ninjas, and you know that, Iruka," Mizuki answered, his stance alert and ready. "People like us are always going to be teaching at the academy - if we die, it wouldn't be a loss for them. We are both just pawns in this game they're playing while everybody else get to be someone better at and you know it!"

"You're talking nonsense, Mizuki! We are equally as important -"

"No we aren't! Everybody else we've graduated with have become ANBU - everybody else has made a mark, while we rot in that damn academy and teach good-for-nothing _children_ like that jinjuriki!"

Iruka tightened his hold on his kunai, his dark eyes narrowing. "Take that back," he threatened.

Mizuki smirked. "Not in this lifetime, Iruka," he said. "I'm going to get that scroll and become stronger and I'm going to kill those people who ridicule me. I'm going to show them _who's_ the strong one!" he continued as he straightened up and ran towards the direction Naruto had ran off to.

* * *

Naruto panted heavily as he continued to run. From what, or who, he didn't know.

Mizuki's words rang again and again through his head. And Iruka's face - his ashen, regretful expression - was being played over and over and over -

A shurikan wheezed right beside the blonde as he narrowly avoided it. Naruto looked at the jounin fearfully, willing his feet to run faster.

"You can't run forever, Naruto," Mizuki sing-songed, his laughter echoing through the air. He threw his other shurikan, and Naruto abruptly changed directions to avoid it... only to lose his balance.

Naruto crashed to the floor, still clutching the huge scroll in his arms as he looked fearfully at the silver-haired man.

"You can hand the scroll over to me and live," Mizuki started, picking up his discarded shurikan, "or you can refuse and let me kill you."

_"Wretched beast!"_

"As if I'd ever hand this over to you!" Naruto yelled, his voice sounding hoarse to his ears.

Mizuki laughed menacingly. "Then you prefer to die, then," he mused, raising his shurikan into the air.

Naruto shut his eyes tight.

_"Demon!"_

Would it be better if he had just died...?

A loud clink and a groan crossed his ears. Naruto opened his eyes again, only to see an uchiwa fan symbol in front of him.

Naruto recognized who it was. What was he -

Naruto suddenly felt hands on each of his shoulders, helping him get up. "Are you okay?" a voice asked. Naruto recognized who that was, too!

Naruto turned around, surprised, to meet the green eyes that were looking at him with evident concern. "Sakura...chan?"

"Dobe."

Naruto glared at the Uchiha, not able to ignore his insult. "What was that, you bastard?!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. Why had he come here again?

"This isn't over yet!"

All three pairs of eyes looked at the jounin who was standing up again.

Sasuke resumed a fighting stance, to get another hit at the silver-haired man when he suddenly disappeared from sight.

_A teleportation jutsu!_

"AAAHHH!"

Naruto turned around to the sound behind him, only to see Sakura in front of Mizuki, a kunai pressed threateningly to her throat.

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura whimpered and Naruto just about saw Sasuke begin to move towards the pink-haired girl before Mizuki spoke.

"One more step and I'll kill her!" Mizuki yelled, eyes wide and laughing. Turning to Naruto, he continued, "All you have to do is give me the forbidden scroll and I'll let her live."

Naruto cursed. This was bad. This was very, very, very bad. If he gave Mizuki the scroll, he'd probably just kill everybody else... but he couldn't let Sakura die!

The blonde turned to his dark-haired companion who looked like he was contemplating the same thing. Naruto was just about to ask what he was thinking about when another ear-splitting cry crossed his hearing.

And, this time, it was Mizuki.

The Sasuke beside him vanished in a cloud of smoke, and he saw the real one, slash a kunai unto the silver-haired man's back.

Naruto hadn't even seen him do a hand sign, let alone create a clone! How had he done that?!

Sakura, taking advantage of the situation, landed a concrete punch on the silver-haired man's stomach and broke away from his grasp. ("SHANNARO!") Mizuki coughed and crouched to the floor.

"Are you alright, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, running towards Sakura's side. Sasuke was already with her, silently asking the same question.

Sakura nodded once and smiled faintly. "I'm fine -" Green eyes widened. "NARUTO, WATCH OUT"

Mizuki's shurikan was flying towards Naruto, already only a feet away, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Naruto braced himself...

...only to feel nothing.

Blue met brown.

"I-Iruka-sensei..."

Iruka was crouched above him, his body protecting Naruto from the shurikan that had lodged itself into his back, through the middle of the symbol on his jounin vest.

Iruka cracked a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Naruto," he said softly.

"...Sensei -"

But Naruto didn't have time to finish. Mizuki was already aiming his second shurikan and Naruto only had seconds to decide what he had to do next.

With evident determination, Naruto raised his hands to his chest and concentrated his chakra.

_I can do this!_

"KAGE BUNSHIN TECHNIQUE!"

Two, four, eight, forty, a hundred clones surrounded the area, all ready to attack. In the background, Iruka's eyes widened.

_He had mastered... such a technique in less than a day?!_

Mizuki turned frantically towards all directions, with fearful eyes. "This- this can't be!"

The real Naruto grinned widely. "LET'S GO!"

* * *

"How much more longer, Iruka-sensei?"

"Just a little bit more, Naruto. Just wait," Iruka replied.

Naruto could hear the rustling of clothing... and something being tied around his forehead.

"Okay. It's done."

Naruto slowly opened his cerulean eyes, only to see his sensei's smiling face. Idly, he raised a hand to his forehead and recognized the symbol engraved on the cool, smooth metal.

"This is -" Naruto began, but Iruka didn't let him finish, unable to hold his excitement.

"Congratulations, Naruto!" Iruka said. "You're now a genin of Konoha!"

The blonde's eyes widened. _He_... _was_?

Naruto blinked twice. _He_ _was_! He _was_ a genin!

A wide grin etched unto his face. He was a genin... and it was because of Iruka-sensei's help, and Sakura-chan's help... and _maybe_ he could count the bastard's help, too... or maybe not.

But the point was...

Naruto's grin grew wider.

...for the first time in a long, long, _long_ time, Uzumaki Naruto didn't feel so alone anymore.

* * *

**A**/**N**: That was one long chapter. Thank you for your patience. That chapter was about good ol' Naruto. I love him - who doesn't, right? And I was thinking, if I was going to make this story close to canon, (I'm trying, please, bear with me if you don't think it is.) Naruto has to have his good ol' exposure. Yes? No? Maybe?

Well, anyway, tell me what you think. :) See you in the next chapter! :D


	6. her knight

Uzumaki Naruto scanned the room with obvious excitement that morning, proudly wearing the Konohagakure emblem on his forehead. Indeed it was a beautiful day - the birds were singing, the sun was shining, he had ramen for breakfast - and it couldn't have been better.

"Everybody saw that I came in the room before _you_ did, Piggy!"

Naruto's hearing perked up. - Or maybe it could!

"In your dreams, forehead! I was at least about an inch before you!"

"Keep kidding yourself, Porky!"

Naruto immediately stood up, waving his hands in large motions in the air. "Sakura-_chyaaaaannnnn_!"

A pair of green eyes turned to look at him and Sakura smiled. "Naruto! Good morning!" the pink-haired girl greeted cheerily, completely ignoring the stomping girl with pale-blonde hair whose name Naruto had forgotten. Whatever whoever's name was anyway, Naruto had no care for all he cared was about Sakura-chan who was now walking towards him - _him_, Uzumaki Naruto, a genin of Konoha, the future Hokage -

"Dobe."

Naruto instantly froze and turned to the direction the voice came from.

...But Uchiha Sasuke (who had been beside Naruto the whole time since he got inside the classroom) wasn't even looking at him - he was looking past his shoulder at -

Naruto turned back to the pink-haired girl who had climbed behind the chair to sit in the middle of Sasuke and himself.

_Bastard_... Naruto gritted to himself.

Naruto had vaguely registered that Iruka had come into the room to announce the teams of three, luckily, he was back to his usual self the moment his name was announced.

"Team Seven - Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka started. Naruto grinned to himself as most of his classmates (who hadn't expected him to be there that morning) whispered to themselves, "Haruno Sakura," Naruto leaped for joy, Sakura smiled politely, and Sasuke scowled, "and Uchiha Sasuke." Naruto sat back down to wallow in despair, Sakura leaped for joy, and Sasuke hid a smirk.

This was going to be a long, long, long, _long_ beautiful day.

* * *

**Chapter 6: The Bell Test**

* * *

"He's *so late..." Sakura sighed, watching the clock on the wall tick. Everybody else's jounin teachers had arrived and Team Seven's teacher had yet to come... whoever he was and wherever he had gotten to.

Naruto, who was bored out of his mind, poked his head out the hallway for a moment and all but ran to get a particularly dusty chalkboard eraser from the teacher's table.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Sakura inquired curiously.

Naruto snickered, choosing to _show_ rather than to say. The blonde stood on his tiptoes, opened the sliding door a little wider and sandwiched the eraser in between both doors tightly before tiptoeing back to his previous seat. "That'll teach him a lesson for being late!"

Sakura, having realized Naruto's little prank perked up and chuckled in glee. "Oooh, I like these kinds of stuff!" she cheerfully chidded.

Sasuke rolled is eyes. "As if a jounin would fall for that kind of trick," he muttered.

Naruto had practically ignored them both for he was staring expectantly at the door. A few minutes later, the door slid open, revealing a silver-haired man with spiky hair... and chalk dust all over his face.

Naruto guffawed loudly on the floor, while Sakura stifled her laughter.

Sasuke, on the other hand, glared at the man. *This is a jounin?

"Hmm... how about this..." The silver-haired man narrowed his one visible eye at the three. "My first impression of the three of you... is I don't like you."

And the room immediately fell silent.

* * *

"Why don't we start with a little introduction?" Kakashi lazily said, looking at the three with his lone eye.

"What do you want to know?" Sakura, always the inquisitive one, asked, looking at the silver-haired man warily. She was seated beside Sasuke, her twiggy arms wrapped around her legs, as she always did when she felt uncomfortable.

Kakashi shrugged. "Your likes and dislikes, maybe? Your dreams for the future - things like that."

"Hey, how about you introduce yourself first!" Naruto quipped. Sakura cast him a grateful look.

"Yeah, you look kinda suspicious..." the pink-haired girl trailed off.

"Hmm... Me?" Kakashi paused to think for a moment. "I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes - Dreams? Hmm... I have lots of hobbies..." The silver-haired man crinkled an eye and turned to the three students.

Sakura turned to the blonde, face twitching in irritation. "So all he told us... is his name?"

"It's your turn!" Kakashi carried on, giving no indication what-so-ever that he had heard Sakura. "From the right."

"Alright!" Naruto enthusiastically said fixing his forehead protector. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! What I like is instant ramen! What I like more is when Iruka-sensei pays for my ramen! What I don't like is waiting for three minutes for the ramen to cook! And my dream..."

_Why is it that all he thinks about is ramen?_

"...is to surpass the Hokage and then have the people from the village acknowledge my existence, dattebayo!"

Kakashi's eye widened a little at Naruto's declaration, but after a while he smirked to himself. _He has grown in an interesting way..._

"I see..." Kakashi scratched the top of his head. "Next!"

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," Sasuke started, not moving from his previous position and sounding as bored as ever. "There are a lot of things I dislike, and I don't like a lot of things. And I don't know if I can call it a dream, but I have an ambition..."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow and Naruto glanced at the dark-haired boy's direction.

"...It is to resurrect my clan," Sasuke continued, "and to kill a certain man."

Kakashi watched as Naruto gulped and Sakura visibly stiffened. He didn't know much about what had happened that night, but somehow, he had anticipated that this would be his answer.

_The Uchiha Massacre, huh?_

"Okay, next - the girl," Kakashi said, nodding once at Sakura.

Sakura blinked twice, as if abruptly pulled away from her thoughts before offering her sensei a wide smile. "I'm Haruno Sakura! I like dango and miso ramen -" ("ALRIGHT, RAMEN!") "- and daffodils and cherry blossom trees and chocolates! I dislike it when people tease me about my forehead! My hobby is reading books and my dream for the future is world peace, shannaro!"

Kakashi inwardly sweat-dropped._ Isn't that a little unattainable?_

"Okay!" Kakashi said in a loud voice. "Now that the introductions are over, tomorrow we begin our duties as shinobi."

"OH YEAHHH!" Naruto exclaimed, standing up in excitement. "What kinds of duties?! Duties! Duties!"

"First we are going to do something with just the four of us," the jounin replied.

"What is it? What is it?" Naruto quipped in the background.

Kakashi paused for a moment, looking serious. "Survival training."

"Survival training?" Naruto echoed, disappointment evident in his tone.

"But why is our first duty training?" Sakura asked, finally relaxing her posture. "We've had a lot of training at the academy already."

"This isn't a normal training," Kakashi answered. "This time, *I'll be your opponent."

"What will happen then?" Naruto asked.

Instead of answering, Kakashi laughed.

Sakura's brows furrowed. "Why are you laughing, sensei?" she inquired warily.

"Umm, well, it's just that -" Kakashi stated between fits of laughter. "When I tell you, you'd freak out."

"Freak out?" Naruto frowned in confusion. "Huh?"

"Out of the twenty-seven graduates," Kakashi started, looking serious once more. "Only nine will be chosen to be genin, and the rest will be sent back to the academy."

The three immediately stiffened.

"This is a very difficult exercise, with a failure rate of over sixty-six percent!"

Naruto's jaw dropped, Sakura twitched and Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

The silver-haired jounin pointed at the three and laughed. "I told you you'd freak out!"

Naruto was the first to recover. "THAT CAN'T HAPPEN!" he boomed. "We already worked so hard - what's the point of graduating if we don't get to be genin?"

"Oh, that?" Kakashi replied. "That was just to select those who have the chance to become genin!"

"WHAT?!"

Kakashi ignored Naruto's loud outburst and continued, "Anyway, tomorrow you have to show your real skills on the training ground. Bring all the shinobi tools you have - oh, and skip breakfast because you might throw up."

Naruto, however, ignored him and tightened his fists. _I can't fail here... I'll have to show Kakashi-sensei all I've got and make him recognize my strength!_

Kakashi stepped away from the railing and handed each a piece of paper. "The details are in here," he said. "And don't be late tomorrow." At that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the three bewildered children awaiting their doom.

(Insert sound effects here.)

* * *

_That night, Naruto trained with a motionless Kakashi doll..._

* * *

"Hey guys! Good Morning!"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto and Sakura yelled in unison.

Kakashi nonchalantly scratched the back of his head. "Well, I'd tell you an interesting story about a cat I had to help on my way here, but first thing's first." He took an alarm clock from his pack and set it on top of one of the target logs. Sakura studied it from where she was standing. It read 11:10.

"It's set for noon," Kakashi explained as he took a pair of bells from his pocket and showing it to the three. "Here are two bells. Your task is to take these from me before the time's up. Those who don't have a bell by noon, gets no lunch. I'll not only tie you to one of those target logs, but I'll also eat in front of you."

Sakura distinctly felt her stomach grumble. _So that's why...we were told not to eat..._

"You only have to get one bell," Kakashi continued as the bells tingled in the wind. "There are only two, so one of you will definitely be tied to the stump. And the person who doesn't take a bell fails, so at least one of you will get back to the academy.

"If you want, you can use shurikens and kunais." Kakashi tucked the bells away. "You won't succeed unless you come at me intending to kill."

"B-But -!" Sakura piped in, unconsciously taking two steps forward. "You'll be in danger!"

"Yeah, you're so slow you can't even dodge a blackboard eraser!" Naruto snickered. "We'll definitely kill you."

Kakashi narrowed his lone eye at the blonde's comment. "In the real world, those with no talent often bark the loudest," he said, eyeing Naruto. "Let's ignore Mr. Dobe and start when I say -"

Sakura barely registered Naruto's eye twitching at the word "dobe" because the next moment, he already had a kunai in his hand and was already running towards the silver-haired jounin.

"Wait - Naruto -!"

But then the weirdest thing happened - Kakashi-sensei suddenly disappeared and appeared right behind Naruto. He held Naruto's kunai behind the blonde's neck with his right hand and his head in the other.

"Calm down," he said in his usual lazy tone, like Naruto hadn't just intended to attack him. "I haven't said start yet."

Sakura stood her ground, frozen. _No way... I couldn't even see -_

"Well, it seems you're finally prepared to come at me with the intent to kill," Kakashi noted with a smirk under his mask. "You've finally acknowledged me as a worthy opponent, huh? It seems like I'm beginning to like you guys." He looked at Sasuke and Sakura with a lone eye and began to let Naruto go. "Ready?"

Sakura pressed her lips tightly together and spread her feet apart a little wider.

"BEGIN!"

Sakura pressed her hands together into a seal and teleported herself away from the jounin.

* * *

Sasuke surveyed the area from the tree he was hiding in. The only person he could see was Kakashi - Sakura was well hidden somewhere else, that was good. They could buy time to plan how to get those bells while Kakashi was standing there. Maybe he'd have to find Sakura first - there was no way he was going to let her fail this test. He had to protect her. If there was anyone who had to go back to the academy...

"COME HERE AND FIGHT ME!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

...it was the dobe.

Who the hell was stupid enough to fight a jounin face to face other than that loud-mouthed idiot, anyway?

"I SAID FIGHT ME!" Naruto boomed, crossing his arms at his chest.

"You're an odd one, aren't you?" Kakashi said. Sasuke couldn't see his face clearly from where he was hiding, but he was almost sure Kakashi was at least a little bit surprised by Naruto's idiocy.

_What an idiot..._

* * *

Naruto quickly closed the distance between him and the jounin. "The only thing that's odd is your hair!"

Kakashi glanced at the boy once and fished something from his weapon pouch. Naruto stopped just five feet away from Kakashi.

"Shinobi fighting lesson number one: _Taijutsu_," Kakashi said, hand still inside his pouch. "I'll teach you about it."

_Taijutsu is shinobi hand-to-hand combat. Why is he going to use a weapon? _Naruto thought, cringing in anticipation.

Kakashi's began to withdraw his hand and Naruto prepared himself for whatever kind of weapon the jounin planned to use against him.

...only to come face to face with an orange book.

_WHAT?!_

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked, noticing Naruto's hesitation. "What's wrong? Hurry up and attack me!"

"But what's with the book?!" Naruto asked, still confused.

Kakashi eyed the pages, his eye glinting with interest. "I just want to know what happens next," he said. "But don't worry. It won't make a difference against you guys."

Naruto's face twitched at the insult. "I'LL TOTALLY KICK YOUR ASS!" He then charged with a punch, but Kakashi deflected it with one hand. Naruto, not the one to give up so easily, followed through with a kick, only to be avoided by Kakashi by crouching. Naruto gritted his teeth. He didn't even look at him while he was attacking!

Naruto closed his fist and charged again. _This time I'll get you!_

...only to punch air.

"Huh?"

Kakashi's lazy voice came from behind him. "A shinobi isn't supposed to get caught from behind, baka."

Inwardly, Naruto gulped.

* * *

Sakura fought the urge to come out from the bush she was hiding at and come to Naruto's aid. But she knew it wouldn't really do much - one, two, it didn't make a difference if they were up against a jounin-level ninja.

But now, looking at how things were going, Sakura almost wanted to defy her intelligence and be reckless.

Kakashi's hands were pressed together into a tiger seal - that wasn't going to be good. Sakura mentally scrambled all her knowledge thinking of what jutsus began with the tiger seal. She remembered a few that Fugaku-sama and the other Uchiha ninjas used - they were all deadly fire-type jutsus. That wasn't going to be good.

_If I get out there, there's no turning back. _Sakura felt sweat all-over her face. _If I warn him, I'll probably get discovered, but I can hide somewhere else right away -_

Kakashi closed his eyes briefly and let out a long breath.

_This is no time for long contemplation! _a voice inside her head yelled. And Sakura silently agreed.

And so, she yelled at the top of her lungs.

"NARUTO! RUN YOU IDIOT! YOU'RE GONNA GET YOUR ASS KICKED! RUN LIKE THE WIND! **FLYYYYYY**!"

...well, that couldn't have been said better.

But it was too late. When Naruto turned behind him, Kakashi was already unleashing his ultimate technique -

"Hidden leaf ancient taijutsu supreme technique - A THOUSAND YEARS OF PAIN!"

_You were wrong..._ her inner voice said, sweat-dropping. _Naruto didn't get his ass kicked - he got his ass poked! _Inner Sakura doubled over, laughing.

"What..." Sakura scowled. "That isn't even a ninjutsu. It was just a powerful ass-poke."

Naruto stumbled into the water, flailing, and Kakashi got back to his reading. Sakura realized the seriousness of the situation. That was the point - it wasn't even a real technique, but it was enough to send Naruto toppling over towards the river. If Kakashi-sensei used a real technique, they wouldn't even have a chance. _If_ they even _had_ a chance to begin with.

_He's a jounin, how can we ever beat him? What can we do? This is so unfair..._

Kakashi snickered about something from his book; Sakura's heart fell.

_He's reading and laughing... he's just playing with Naruto..._

Sakura's green eyes looked at the pond with genuine concern.

_Naruto... I hope you're okay..._

* * *

_Damn it!_

Naruto gritted his teeth as he continued to sink.

_There's no way..._

_"It's because you have a demon inside of you, Naruto! You house the kyuubi - the very same monster that killed thousands of people twelve years ago, including Iruka's parents!"_

_...I'm gonna give up!_

_Iruka-sensei's sad smile. "I'm sorry, Naruto..."_

_I can't -_

Naruto pressed his fingers together to form a seal he had already mastered.

_I WON'T -_

He gathered up chakra.

_I WON'T FAIL HERE!_

* * *

Sasuke watched as Naruto emerged from the water coughing and breathing heavily.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi taunted. "If you don't get a bell before noon, you won't get lunch."

"I know, I know!" Naruto said.

"You sure are weak for someone who's going to surpass the Hokage," Kakashi added as an afterthought.

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled. "I can still fight on an empty stomach!"

**BRRRRRRRRRRRR**

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

_Now that he mentioned it..._

"I was just a little careless, that's all!" Naruto quipped.

"Carelessness can be your worst enemy, you know?" Kakashi said, turning around and walking away.

Sasuke tuned out the conversation below him and looked at the direction where Sakura's voice came from before - if she hadn't moved, she should still be somewhere there. He had to talk to her and tell her to stay put while he take the bells from Kakashi -

A loud series of splashes broke Sasuke's train of thought. From the lake, five, six, seven, ten Naruto clones emerged, attacking Kakashi all at once.

"Hah! My new jutsu: Kage Bunshin Technique! You better not get careless - there are more than one of me now!" Naruto said, grinning and joining his clones.

_It's the same technique as before..._ Sasuke thought. _They're not illusions - what kind of jutsu is this?_

From where he was hiding, Sasuke saw Kakashi's eye widen in surprise. It seemed that it was no ordinary jutsu if a jounin was surprised that Naruto had used it.

"No matter how many you line up, you are still Naruto and you can't beat me with that jutsu - **what**?!" Kakashi stopped in mid-sentence. A clone had locked him in place and the others have just about reached him.

Sasuke watched the scene in shock.

"Shinobi are not supposed to get caught from behind," Naruto quoted, "right, Kakashi-sensei?"

Two clones dove to take hold of each of Kakashi's leg.

"I sent clones from the water to distract you and sneak up behind you!" Naruto said preparing a punch. "My butt still hurts! HERE'S PAYBACK!"

Slowly, Sasuke smirked. Maybe this Naruto wasn't such a dobe after all.

But just as Naruto was about to land a punch at Kakashi's face, a cloud of smoke appeared and Naruto's punch landed on... _Naruto_?

"Ouch! Hey! What did you punch me for?!" Naruto's clone yelled, standing up.

Naruto - Sasuke assumed he was the real one - shouted back angrily, "YOU'RE KAKASHI-SENSEI, AREN'T YOU? YOU USED HENGE TO TRANSFORM YOURSELF!"

"IT'S NOT ME, IDIOT!"

"IT'S YOU!"

"NO, IT'S YOU!"

"YOU HAVE KAKASHI-SENSEI'S OLD MAN SMELL!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

Awkward silence.

"Hey...why don't you release the jutsu? That way there will only be two left."

"Yeah, why didn't you think of that earlier, idiot?!"

"I'm _you, _moron!"

And after a cloud of smoke, only one remained and a small tear rolled down Naruto's face.

**WOOOOSHHHHH**

_That was Kawarimi Jutsu, you moron, _Sasuke inwardly thought. _Kakashi switched himself with one of Naruto's clones - not only did it confuse Naruto, but it caused damage unto himself._

Sasuke looked back at Sakura's probable location. There was no wasting time now - he needed to find her before Kakashi did.

* * *

Sakura pressed her lips into a frown. Naruto had just fallen into Kakashi trap (again). The blonde went to take a bell from the ground but before he reached it, a rope was tied unto his feet. Hence, he was now hanging up-side down from a tree.

Sakura sighed. _So uncool, Naruto..._

Sakura's head suddenly perked up in realization as she scanned the area. Kakashi-sensei was no longer in sight, and since she had shouted earlier to warn Naruto, she probably gave her position away. Sakura crawled from her hiding place, when a strong hand suddenly covered her mouth.

Sakura flailed her hands and kicked in attempt to be released.

"Sakura, stop," a familiar voice drawled. "It's me."

Sakura immediately felt calm wash over her. Sasuke, sensing that she was calm enough not to give away their position, released her.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said. Finally! Sasuke was here! They could plan how to make Kakashi-sensei promote all three of them to genin - they would beat him together and they would prove that they were capable -

"You have to stay hidden."

Sakura blinked twice. "I - what?"

"Stay. Hidden. Sakura," Sasuke repeated, emphasizing each word.

"But why?!" Sakura demanded, careful not to raise her voice too high. "We have to work together, Sasuke-kun! As a team!"

"Just leave the bells to me," Sasuke insisted, ignoring Sakura's protests. "When I give the signal, come out."

"But - "

"Just _hide_, Sakura. You'll just get in my way," Sasuke said with finality before he jumped up into a branch and threw shuriken and kunai at the silver-haired man.

Sakura gritted her teeth.

Sometimes Sasuke could be so - so - _annoying!_

* * *

When Sasuke saw the kunai and shuriken dig unto the jounin's body, he let out a smirk. _Hn_. _That was easy._

"WHAT THE HELL, BASTARD!" Naruto yelled from where he was hanging. "THAT WAS TOO FAR!"

But in a cloud of smoke, Kakashi turned into a log.

Sasuke inwardly cursed.

_Damn! Another kawarimi and now he knows where I am!_

"He showed an opening on purpose and I fell for his trap!" Sasuke said in between gritted teeth.

_This is harder than I thought._

Sasuke's onyx eyes swept around him, in search of the jounin.

_Sakura... just stay hidden._

* * *

Sakura blinked twice at the scene - Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei - they just... disappeared!

Sakura scrambled up from the ground and lunged forward. Somewhere at the distance, Naruto was hanging from a tree and shouting obscenities, but she had no time for him right now - she had to find Sasuke.

_Sasuke-kun where are you?!_

Sakura ran as swiftly as she could and a whiff of white and green caught her peripheral. Sakura immediately hid again.

Green eyes looked through the bushes to look at the jounin. _Good, it doesn't look like he noticed me._

"Behind you, Sakura."

Sakura whipped around - only to come face to face with Kakashi.

* * *

"'Look underneath the underneath'?! What a moron!" Naruto said to himself, remembering what Kakashi had told him while he was hanging by the tree branch earlier, as he cut through the rope tied to his foot. "Damn it! I'm not going to fall for his stupid traps again!"

Naruto tumbled in the air to land on the ground feet-first. He was just about to stand back up again when he felt a familiar pressure on his right ankle.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Naruto wailed. "Damn it! I fell for the same trap underneath me!"

* * *

Sakura blinked thrice and looked around her frantically. "Huh?! What happened?! Where's Kakashi-sensei?!"

"Sakura..."

Sakura gasped in delight. _That voice!_

"Sasuke-kun!" she said, turning to the direction of the voice, but what she saw left her frozen and unable to breathe.

"Saku...ra..." Sasuke let out, huffing and gasping for breath. "...Help...me..."

Sakura felt her whole body go numb. Before her, Sasuke lay, his left leg was twisted in an abnormal way, he was missing an arm and he was bleeding - bleeding so fast - bleeding so much - _Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun -_

"Help...Sa...kura..."

Sakura's whole body shook. Every dark memory of her past resurfaced once more.

_The bodies of her parents... the bodies of everyone in the Uchiha district..._

"...Sa...kura..."

Sakura's thin arms embraced herself as she did the only thing she could think of.

_Scream._

* * *

Sasuke turned around towards the direction of the voice. It was Sakura.

"Shinobi fighting lesson number two: _Genjutsu_," a voice drawled from behind him. "Sakura easily fell for it."

Sasuke willed himself to calm down. It was only genjutsu - Sakura was fine.

_"For the next seventy-two hours, you will witness me killing every single one from our clan over and over and over -"_

Sasuke pushed down the thought. No. Kakashi was not capable of what Itachi was capable of. Sakura was okay. She was okay. She was fine -

"I'm not like them," Sasuke said.

"You should say that after you get the bell from me," Kakashi replied, "Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke turned around at the suffix. He knew what Kakashi was trying to do. He was taunting him - willing him to attack recklessly without much thought. He wasn't falling for it.

Sasuke threw several kunais and shuriken at Kakashi's direction. The jounin evaded them easily.

"Such obvious attacks won't work," Kakashi said.

Sasuke smirked. He had known they wouldn't. The attack had been a diversion - he had purposely set off another attack - a trap.

Kakashi's eye widened when a barrage of knives went flying towards him. He had avoided it again, but Sasuke was quick to throw a kick at him right away. Kakashi fended off his attack and locked his fingers around his ankle. Sasuke followed through with a punch, and Kakashi took hold of his fist with his other hand.

Sasuke smirked. _Right where I want him to be._

Sasuke twisted to take the bells dangling from the jounin's pouch. Kakashi, realizing what he was after, quickly threw the Uchiha away from him.

"I acknowledge that you are different from them," Kakashi mused, but Sasuke was only half-listening.

_Horse. Tiger. Ram. Monkey. Boar. Horse. Tiger._

Sasuke took a deep breath.

"Katon: Kokakyu no Jutsu!"

A great ball of fire emerged and Sasuke kept it for as long as he could. Sasuke looked at the damage and his eyes widened in shock. He had expected Kakashi to still be there, but the jounin was no where to be found.

Sasuke frantically looked around him.

"Below you."

Sasuke had no time to react because when he looked down, a strong hand had already grasped his left ankle.

"Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu!"

Sasuke had a distinct feeling of vertigo before he had realized what was happening. When he opened his eyes, the nausea still lingering, he was already stuck to the ground, with only his head sticking up above.

"Shinobi fighting lesson number three: _Ninjutsu_," Kakashi said, crouching down at the Uchiha.

"I admit you're already away further than the others," the jounin continued, standing up and walking away, "but you know what they say about exposed nails that should be hammered."

"Damn you!" Sasuke gritted.

When Kakashi was already out of sight, he let out a long breath. It was only about ten minutes before noon, and he could still try to take the bell from him before the alarm rang. But, now, he couldn't rely on the element of surprise because Kakashi already knew what he was capable of.

_First thing's first, _Sasuke thought. _I have to get out of here._

* * *

Sakura awoke with a startled gasp. Sasuke was no where to be found - she distinctly remembered Sasuke asking her for help - he was injured badly, but he was no where to be seen. She didn't remember passing out, but she had to look for him to see how he was doing.

With shaking legs, Sakura willed herself to get up. She stopped on her tracks when she heard a familiar voice calling her name.

"Sakura."

Sakura looked around. It was Sasuke's voice, no doubt! But... where _was_ he?

"Sakura," Sasuke called again. "Down here."

Sakura looked below her and only two meters away was Sasuke's severed head. Sakura felt all the color drain from her face.

_Calm down..._ _It spoke didn't it? It's not Sasuke's severed head - it's his head, but it's not severed, so calm down..._

"A-are you okay?" Sakura asked, her voice a little bit shaky.

Sasuke glared like he was asked if he wanted a pink tutu. "I'm stuck on the ground."

"R-right..." Sakura coughed once, finding her resolve. "Wait, I'm gonna get you out of there."

Sakura looked around.

A second passed...

...and then a minute...

"Uhh... Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn."

"...How do you suppose we get you out of there?"

* * *

Naruto took the time he was hanging from a tree to think. _'A shinobi must look underneath the underneath,' _Kakashi had said. Somehow, it had been a clue that another trap was set below the trap he was previously in and now he was stuck in _that _trap. Naruto was careful not to make the same mistake thrice, because it would suck if there was another trap _below_ the trap below the trap he was in.

Naruto scrunched his nose. This thinking thing was giving him a headache!

Naruto scanned his surroundings. Kakashi was nowhere to be seen - there was a stone pavement and a flag on top of a small lump of land just behind where the alarm clock was set. On top of the stone were two boxes and on top of each was a pair of chopsticks.

"AH! There's food on top of the stone!" Naruto observed cheerfully.

'_A shinobi must look underneath the underneath', huh?_

Naruto withdrew a kunai from his pouch and cut through the rope. This time, he was careful enough not to step on the ground lest another trap was waiting for him. Instead, he jumped from tree branch to tree branch until he reached his destination.

Naruto took the two boxes and put it in front of him.

"Why waste my time getting those bells when I can just hide and eat?" Naruto snickered mischievously.

"What was that?" a voice drawled from behind him.

Naruto immediately stiffened.

_Busted_.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the three found themselves sitting by the training logs. The alarm had sounded ten minutes earlier and it took another ten minutes before Sakura and Sasuke arrived at the scene. For some reason Sakura didn't know (she wasn't sure she wanted to, anyway), Naruto was tied unto one of the logs.

"You three look hungry," Kakashi observed, crossing his at his chest. "About the training - all three of you won't have to get back to the academy."

Sakura found herself perking up at what Kakashi had said. So did that mean - ?!

Beside her, Naruto came to the same conclusion. "That - does that mean all three of us - ?!" Naruto said, grinning so wide that if he grinned any wider, his face would crack.

"Yup," Kakashi said. "All three of you can quit as shinobi."

Sakura's jaw dropped. _What?! Q-quit?!_

"QUIT AS SHINOBI?! WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!" Naruto yelled, struggling to get out of his bondage. "I KNOW WE COULDN'T GET THE BELLS, BUT WHY DO WE HAVE TO QUIT?!"

"Because all three of you," Kakashi answered, "are punks who don't deserve to be called shinobi."

Sakura didn't know what happened. One moment Sasuke was seated on the ground with her and the next, he was sprawled on the ground and locked on Kakashi's grip, his arm twisted painfully behind him. "That's why you're a punk," Kakashi said, stepping lightly on Sasuke's head.

"You underestimate shinobi," he said. "Why do you think you were divided into teams and doing this training?"

"Wh - what do you mean?" Sakura asked, anxious to get Sasuke out of Kakashi's hold.

"Basically, you guys are not understanding the answer to this test," Kakashi replied.

"Answer?" Naruto echoed.

"Yes. The answer that helps you pass the test."

Sakura blinked twice. The answer - had she been right all along? If the three of them had charged towards Kakashi at the same time -

"DAMN IT! WHAT'S THE ANSWER ALREADY!" Naruto demanded, still struggling out from the ropes.

"It's teamwork," Sakura breathed, looking down.

"Yes," Kakashi narrowed his lone eye. "It is. The three of you working together might have gotten the bells."

"That's why there are only two bells," Sakura said, frowning. "The test was purposely set up to make us fight amongst ourselves"

"The purpose is to see whether you can forget about your own interest and successfully work together under these designed circumstances," Kakashi continued.

"Sakura." Sakura looked at the silver-haired jounin. "Instead of helping Naruto who was near you, you focused on looking for Sasuke who was far away."

Sakura frowned, becoming more and more depressed. It was true. She could have - no _should_ have - helped Naruto out from the tree...

Sakura threw Naruto an apologetic look, but he didn't seem to notice.

"And you, Naruto," Kakashi said, looking at Naruto, "were just running around by yourself."

"And you, Sasuke." Sasuke struggled from underneath the jounin. "You just assumed the others would get in your way, so you tried to do everything yourself."

"The duties are done as a team," Kakashi continued. "Of course superior individual ability is important, but what's important is _teamwork_. Individual play that disrupts the team can put your comrades in danger. And even you get killed. For example -"

Kakashi took a kunai from his weapon pouch and pressed it against Sasuke's neck. "SAKURA! Kill Naruto or I'll kill Sasuke!"

Sakura gasped, her reflex action willing her to attack the jounin, but then she remembered it was just an example.

"WHAT?!" Naruto struggled again, caught by surprise.

"You see?" Kakashi said, standing up and releasing Sasuke from his hold. "If a hostage is taken, you will have to make tough choices, then die. You will be risking your lives in these duties."

Kakashi walked towards the stone beside the flag. "Look at the names carved on this stone - these are all ninjas who are recognized as heroes of the village."

"HEY! MY NAME WILL BE CARVE ON THAT STONE, TOO!" Naruto piped in enthusiastically.

"But they aren't just normal heroes," Kakashi said, eye still on the stone.

"Yeah?! What kind are they?" Naruto asked.

It took a while before Kakashi answered. "These are all heroes who died on duty."

Naruto's smile slowly fell. Sakura, herself, felt a wave of dread wash over her.

"This is a memorial," Kakashi continued. "My best friend's name is also carved in here."

Beats of silence passed.

"I will give you one more chance," Kakashi said, looking at the three at the corner of his eye. "But after lunch I'll make it even tougher to get the bells. Those who still wish to challenge can eat lunch - but don't give any to Naruto."

"Wh-what?!" Naruto asked.

Kakashi looked at the blonde. "It's punishment for trying to eat by yourself." Then, at Sasuke and Sakura. "If anyone gives him any food, they will fail immediately. Got it?"

And with a puff of smoke, Hatake Kakashi disappeared.

* * *

"HEH! I DON'T NEED ANY FOOD ANYWAY! I'M FINE!" Naruto said enthusiastically.

**BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR**

Sasuke inwardly snickered. _Hn. Yeah right._

Sasuke glanced at the pink-haired girl with sad eyes in front of him and a feeling of guilt gnawed through him.

If he had only listened to Sakura earlier -

"Here," he heard Sakura say. Sakura was holding out her bento box towards Naruto.

Naruto looked as surprised as Sasuke was. "S-Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei said -"

"I don't care," Sakura interrupted, determination written all-over her face. "I feel guilty for leaving you out there earlier... I - I shouldn't have..." Sakura pressed her lips together.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and picked up his box from the ground and opened it.

"Here," Sasuke said, offering his box away. Sakura looked at him with bewildered eyes. Sasuke looked away, feeling his neck go red.

"S-Sasuke-kun..."

"Don't worry, I don't sense him anywhere near here," Sasuke said, though really, he wasn't so sure anymore, now that he knew what Kakashi was capable of. "After lunch, we'll work together to get the bells. Without food, he'll only be in the way and that will only hurt us."

Slowly, as if he wasn't sure it was real, Naruto smiled and laughed. "Thank you, you guys."

* * *

Kakashi smiled to himself, watching the three.

_I guess it's time to make my appearance again._

Kakashi appeared in a cloud of smoke and he tried his best to feign anger. The three looked at him with frightened expressions.

"YOU GUYS -"

Sakura closed her eyes and covered her ears; Naruto screamed and Sasuke cursed.

" - pass."

Kakashi grinned underneath his mask.

"...huh?" Naruto said dumbly.

Sakura was first to recover. "Pass? But - but why?"

"You guys are the first," Kakasi said, not really answering Sakura's question. It was true anyway, of all the academy students assigned to him, these three - Sakura, Naruto and Saskue - would be the first ones he'd pass. "Everyone else would just do what I told them - they were morons."

Kakashi, seeing that none of them actually got what he point was, explained further, "A shinobi must look underneath the underneath. Those who break the rules and the code of ninja are called trash. But you know what? Those who don't care about their comrades are worse than trash."

"That ends our training," Kakashi said, giving the three a thumbs up. "All of you pass! Starting tomorrow, Team Seven will begin it's duties!"

* * *

Sasuke walked with Sakura trailing slightly behind him. It was still long before dark, and he was thinking if he'd use the time to train. Sasuke glanced at the pink-haired girl. Her lips were still pulled into a frown and her forehead was scrunched, like she was deep in thought.

Which, knowing Sakura, she was.

Sasuke stopped on his tracks and stood to face Sakura.

"Hm? Sasuke-kun?" she asked, tilting her head to one side.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, no preamble, straight to the point as always.

Sakura frowned. "What do you mean 'what's wrong'?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes irritably. "When you saw me on the ground earlier, you paled. What did Kakashi show you in his genjutsu?"

Sasuke watched as Sakura opened her mouth for a moment - she was about to deny it, no doubt. Not that she could, anyway - before closing it again. "He..." Sakura began, "I saw you... you were injured... badly... and you were asking me for help and I couldn't do anything. I - I -"

"Sakura." She was trembling now, Sasuke observed.

"I couldn't do anything - I -"

"Sakura." Sasuke stepped a little closer.

"Wh-what if it really happened? And I just stood there and I can't do anything -"

"Sakura!"

Sakura looked at the Uchiha, startled. He lifted his right hand and tucked a lock of pink hair behind her ear. When Sasuke found her eyes again, his eyes softened. "That won't happen," he assured. "I won't die." _I won't leave you._

"How can I protect you if I do?" _I will always protect you._

"I won't die." _I won't leave you._

"I promise." _I promise._

And just by seeing her smile again, Sasuke decided he would rather spend the rest of the day with Sakura, than train.

* * *

**A/N**: I know - I know! It took more than a month - I'm sorry! I'm sorry! (Curls up in a corner) Please don't throw tomatoes at me! Throw them at Sasuke-kun instead - he'll love them, yes! (Shows a picture of chibi Sasuke eating a giant tomato.)


	7. her purpose

The blonde smiled widely to himself as he skipped along the streets of Konoha. Kakashi had tasked him - _him_ of all people! Nobody ever trusted him with a responsibility before - to tell his teammates to meet at the wooden bridge by the river for a mission briefing. And, of course, Naruto was going to ask Sakura first.

He held a single crumpled daffodil in his hands as he continued walking before he stopped at before the door of a small apartment.

_This is Sakura-chan's house!_

Naruto grinned so wide that if he grinned wider, he would crack his face... not that he minded now that Sakura-chan was at an arm's length from him.

_I'm going to ask her out!_

Naruto cleared his throat and knocked thrice on the wooden door, giddy with anticipation. A few seconds later, the door opened and Naruto's blue eyes shone with excitement at the sight of Sakura-chan's -

..._black_ eyes?

_Wha -?!_

"What the hell are you doing here, Dobe?" Sasuke sneered, holding the door open at a distance so small, Naruto couldn't almost see him from behind it.

After a full minute of gaping like a fish, Naruto finally got his resolve back. "Why the hell are _you_ here, Teme?! I came for Sakura-chan -"

Sasuke didn't even let the blonde finish. Instead, he had slammed the door on Naruto's face.

Naruto raised his right foot and was about to kick the door open to give the Uchiha a piece of his mind, when a familiar voice reached his ears.

"Sasuke-kun, how many times do I have to tell you to _not_ slam the door at visitors?!"

The door opened again, but this time, it was Sakura, who looked startled (and a bit disgusted) at the sight of Naruto's dirty sole. Naruto immediately put his foot down.

"I - uh - h-hey, Sakura-chan..." Naruto stuttered, scratching his head sheepishly. "I - uh - came to tell you that Kakashi-sensei came to tell me to tell you that - uh - we're supposed to meet at the bridge tomorrow." Naruto forced a grin, still embarrassed that he had almost kicked Sakura. "For a mission briefing."

Sakura blinked her green eyes twice and then smiled. "Okay, Naruto," she said, raising an eyebrow expectantly. "Anything else?"

"Oh! And - uh -" Naruto took the crumpled flower from his jacket pocket and offered it to the pink-haired girl. "For you," he said, scratching the back of his head again when Sakura took it.

Sakura smiled gratefully at the blonde. "Thanks, Naruto," she said sincerely. "That's so nice of you."

Naruto immediately turned beet-red. "Uh - yeah, sure... ahehehehe..."

_This is it! This is your chance, Naruto! Go ask her out, dattebayo!_

"And - uh - Sakura-chan, there's one more thing -" Naruto stopped in mid-sentence sensing a dark, ominous aura nearby.

_What the hell?!_

With wide eyes, Naruto craned his neck slightly to see the Uchiha standing behind Sakura, glaring at him. Now, he was used to Sasuke glaring at him, but this glare... it was... scary... and... well, just... uhhh...

Uzumaki Naruto gulped. Suddenly, he felt like he needed to pee.

"Naruto?" Sakura tilted her head to one side innocently, completely oblivious to the dark, ominous, I'm-going-to-kill-you-Uzumaki-Naruto aura surrounding the whole area.

Naruto laughed nervously, looking back at the pink-haired girl. "Actually, never mind," he said quickly, waving a hand in front of his face. "I just remembered I need to go eat Iruka-sensei with ramen! - uh - I meant eat ramen with Iruka-sensei - yeah, uh, gotta go see you around, Sakura-chan!"

Naruto didn't think he'd ran faster than he had in his life.

...And when Sakura closed the door and turned around, Sasuke was already stalking back into the house like nothing happened.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Of Nightmares and Dream Catchers**

* * *

Sasuke couldn't really remember much about moving out of the Uchiha manor, or the things that had happened two weeks after Uchiha Massacre (as all the villagers now called the unfortunate, tragic event) in general. All he knew was two nights after he had found every member of his family killed by his very own brother, Sakura had dragged Sasuke away from the place that held too much pain and agony and told him that they were going to live at an apartment on the other side of the village - as far away from the Uchiha compound as possible.

Sakura had somehow taken care of finding the semi-furnished two-story apartment that looked nothing like a home to him. Sasuke vaguely remembered staring blankly at the worn-out couch, the cheap coffee table and the cracked wallpapers, but he remembered the feel of Sakura's warm hand in his as she smiled at him and told him that this was going to he their home from now on. It was then Sasuke realized that anywhere felt like home whenever Sakura was with him.

* * *

The nightmares started three days after their move. Since the massacre happened, Sasuke hadn't gotten any decent sleep, so as far as he could remember, he slept dreamlessly, waking up every thirty minutes or so until morning came. But that day, Sasuke and Sakura had painted the walls of the apartment and rearranged the new furniture when it arrived. Sakura had taken care of all the things they needed for the renovation using the money Sasuke had gotten after the deaths of all his relatives. Not that Sasuke minded, anyway.

When the pair went to sleep that night, Sasuke felt the exhaustion and sleeplessness finally catch up to him and for the first time in days he had slept soundly... until he relived that dreaded night again.

Sasuke had woken up screaming, with Sakura sitting on the side of his bed, touching his face gently. Her face was contorted with worry and Sasuke realized for the first time that Sakura looked as exhausted as he did, perhaps even more so.

Slowly and hesitantly, the eight-year old Sasuke lifted his hand towards the hand on his face and let himself be comforted by her presence.

"I'm here, Sasuke-kun," Sakura whispered in the dark. "I will never, ever leave you."

When Sasuke woke up the next day, he found Sakura sitting on the floor, her head leaning on his bedside, and realized two things: one was that he was still holding Sakura's hand tightly and another was that he didn't have any nightmares for the remainder of the night.

* * *

A week later, Sasuke found that he couldn't go back to sleep again. He sat up on his bed, staring into the darkness, not even daring to blink, for he knew that if he closed his eyes - even for one second - the image of everybody he cared about murdered would resurface in his mind.

For the past nights, Sakura had been there to put him back to sleep again, but now, she wasn't home and Sasuke silently wished that he had told her to stay when she said she would sleep at Ino's house to finish a project due the next day. Sasuke knew that it would have been unfair to ask her of such after all that she'd done, but all he wanted to do right now was be with her. Sasuke wanted to, more than anything, go and check if she was okay, if she was still alive, still breathing... because he couldn't imagine the agony he would feel if he lost her, too. Sasuke wanted to keep her with him at all times, to make sure she was safe - but he was pretty sure it wasn't what she would have wanted. So, Sasuke sat up until dawn and waited for the pink-haired girl to arrive.

It was six when Sakura arrived back home. She was walking slowly and quietly, assuming that Sasuke was still asleep, and the shock on her face was evident when she saw him by the stairs, looking at her with an unreadable expression.

Sakura frowned. "You had a nightmare again, didn't you?" she asked softly, but Sasuke felt that even if he denied it, the answer would have still been obvious.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Sasuke asked, turning towards the kitchen.

It took a moment for Sakura to answer. "Anything will do," she replied. When Sasuke turned his face to look at her again, her eyes were absent to the world, as if she was contemplating really hard about something.

* * *

"Why don't you go to Yamanaka's anymore?"

Sakura stiffened visibly. "What?" she croaked.

Sasuke watched as she fumbled with what she was doing with a critical eye. Before, Sakura would always come to Ino and talk to her, or the other way around, but now, the two would refuse to look at each other, let alone stand a mere foot away from the other's presence.

Sasuke narrowed his onyx eyes. Sakura had refused to answer his question, which meant that she didn't want to talk about what was going on between them. If Sakura wanted to tell him, she would.

So with a mumble of "Never mind", Sasuke turned around to leave Sakura with her work in peace.

Silently, though, Sasuke was glad that he had Sakura only to himself again.

* * *

It astonished him to great lengths how Sakura could remember the name of every person she met.

When she had asked him to accompany her to the grocery store that day, Sasuke thought that _he_ would be the center of attention (_he_ whose whole family was killed by his own brother), but to his surprise, everybody would spot Sakura first and greet her cheerfully. Sakura, in return, would greet them back and somehow get all their names right. Well, frankly, who _wouldn't_ spot Sakura? She was the only one with pink hair in the village.

Sasuke then thought that maybe the reason people really noticed him that day (to give him a sad smile and a sympathetic expression) was that he was with Sakura.

Sasuke's onyx eyes turned to look at the girl again. Sakura's origin wasn't a big secret - almost everybody knew that she was also an orphan, but nobody ever gave her sad, sympathetic looks, and Sasuke absently wondered why. Everybody welcomed her, everybody loved her.

Sasuke then wondered if anybody even loved him.

And then, right after he had thought that, Sakura turned around to smile at him.

Sasuke then knew.

_Of course._

The Uchiha found himself smiling back - and though it wasn't a wide obvious smile, he knew Sakura had seen it.

Of course somebody loved him.

And, surprisingly, Sasuke was already content with the one person who did.

* * *

Sasuke didn't know what had woken him up that night. His nightmares still came, but they came less frequently, thanks to the presence of a certain someone at the room across from his. Sasuke had almost decided to go back to sleep... until he heard soft whimpers from the said room.

Sasuke immediately sat up, his sleepiness forgotten, and padded quietly to Sakura's room. Sasuke had expected someone to be there - an intruder maybe, who was hurting Sakura, but the only person in the room was her.

In the moonlight, Sasuke saw Sakura lying on her bed. It looked like she was sleeping soundly, but as he neared, he saw the trail of salt water on her cheeks and the furrow of her brow.

Sasuke felt like a ton of bricks crashed down on him.

Sakura was having a nightmare.

Sasuke softly touched the side of Sakura's face and brushed the trail of tears with his thumb.

All this time, Sasuke had thought _he_ was the only one having nightmares, but...

Sasuke's onyx eyes widened, memories suddenly resurfacing in his mind. Sakura's smiles, Sakura's assurances, Sakura's exhausted expression...

All this time...

...Sakura had been suffering, too.

It was then that Sakura had drifted into wakefulness. The pink-haired girl opened her green eyes and looked at Sasuke with a worried expression.

"Sasuke-kun?" she said sleepily, sitting up. "What's the matter? Did you have a nightmare?"

Sasuke blinked at the girl in the darkness, surprised. Sakura had just _cried_ over a nightmare and yet she asked _him_ what the matter was.

Sasuke attempted to glare, but couldn't.

This girl - this self-sacrificial girl that everybody loved... this girl who thought about him first, the girl who had always been there and had promised to always be there for him...

"Annoying," Sasuke muttered, dipping his head at the crook of her neck and sighing.

Sakura stiffened at the sudden contact at first, but then relaxed and rested her chin on top of Sasuke's head, letting out a light laugh.

...this girl who had always, always seen through his pretenses...

"Annoying," Sasuke said again, closing his eyes.

Sasuke decided that this girl was the most important person in his life.

For the first time, Sasuke was thankful that Sakura was Sakura - that she absolutely did not give up on anyone, that she was always forgiving, always understanding and always compassionate. He was thankful that his father had decided to take care of her. He was thankful that she befriended him. He was thankful that she was here.

Because at the back of his mind, Sasuke knew.

Sakura was born for him.

* * *

**A/N:** HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here's another update, you guys! I actually finished this chapter before the previous chapter, so yeah.

Also, a lot of people have been asking about the course of events in this fanfiction - if the events will strictly be following canon or some course of events will alter decisions and occurrances (hint hint wink wink). Sadly, my friends, I can't tell you that yet. You'll have to wait... and wait... and wait... I'M SORRY OKAY, I'M TRYING - IT'S JUST THAT UNIVERSITY LIFE IS SO BUSY AND -

Okay, enough. XD Reviews make me happy! :D


	8. her secret

_"I won't die."_

Sakura couldn't remember everything that happened.

_"How can I protect you if I do?"_

But she knew that she would never forget this moment.

_"I won't die."_

…that she could never forget.

_"When a person has something precious to protect, that is when they can truly become strong."_

…that she should never forget.

"Do you really feel nothing?!" Naruto yelled in the background, Sakura barely registered what he was saying. This was her fault. If only she had the strength to do something –

"Do you really not feel anything?!" Naruto continued, "If I become as strong as you… will I really become like you?"

Sakura willed herself to look at her blonde teammate. He was crying now. Just like she was.

_"I promise."_

"He threw away his life for you!"

More tears rolled down her eyes.

Life…

…death…

_…Why?_

_Why are we alive?_

"Without his own dream… to die as a tool…"

Slowly, the pink-haired girl stood up from the ground, gathering whatever strength she had left inside her. She could feel Kakashi's wary eyes watching her, but she bothered not to look at his direction. It would just be too painful to look at him – to see the sharingan – without remembering that Sasuke was lying lifeless on the ground. (Not that she would – could, should –)

"Naruto," she said. Her voice was broken, just like her heart, just like her. Naruto looked at her and whipped his tears with his sleeve. She then turned to the missing nin in front of her – all fear she felt gone; completely washed out by anguish and sadness.

"You know, do you?" she asked him, clenching her fists. She tried her best to stop the tears from flowing, but they fell anyway. "You've always known how much he cared for you."

Zabuza's back was turned towards her, so she couldn't see his face. However, she knew – she felt – how he felt. And even if she wanted so much to blame him for Sasuke's death, she found that she couldn't. Because right at that very moment, she knew that he felt what she was feeling.

"You don't need to say anymore," Zabuza said softly. Sakura realized he was crying. Just like Naruto. Just like her.

_Is it because it because we have a purpose to fulfill?_

"It pained him to have to fight you," the missing nin continued, "Haku fought not only for me; he fought for you guys, too."

_If that is the case, then what are we living for?_

"He was too kind."

_Why have we not died?_

"A shinobi is still a human… we may not be able to become emotionless tools."

_Why am I here?_

"I've lost."

_Why are _you_ here?_

"So have I," Sakura wanted to say, but didn't. It was her fault anyway. Sasuke had sworn to protect her – but she couldn't protect him. She was too late.

_Why do we live?_

Sasuke was dead.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Taboo**

* * *

Sakura awoke that night, breathing heavily and reminding herself (again and again and again) that, no, Sasuke was not dead.

_He's alive, he's alive, he's alive –_

But even though she knew he was, she found that she couldn't stop herself from walking quietly towards the room across from hers and checking that, yes, Sasuke was breathing.

Sakura leaned against his doorframe, trying to calm herself down.

_It's okay. It's okay. Sasuke-kun's not dead. Haku did not kill him. He's alive, he's alive, he's alive –_

"Sakura?"

Sakura froze. She really didn't want him to see her like this, but night, after night, after night, she found that her nightmares grew worse.

Sakura forced a smile and looked at Sasuke's face through the darkness. "Hey, Sasuke-kun. I'm sorry I woke you," she said softly.

She could feel Sasuke's dark eyes watching her, studying her. Suddenly, Sakura felt conscious of the situation. She had sworn that she would show Sasuke no weakness the day she found him on the Uchiha compound, surrounded by the dead, mangled bodies of his family, but she couldn't bring herself to be okay, to look okay or even to pretend she was okay.

"I'm sorry," she said again, her voice cracking. Tears were threatening to fall. She did her best to stop them, but she found that she couldn't.

_"You are weak, Sakura."_

"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun." Her voice cracked. Sasuke was still watching her quietly.

_"You are a disgrace to our clan."_

And, in the darkness, she saw him move. He scooted slightly so there was enough space for her beside him.

Sakura half-smiled and lay down on his bed. She knew that Sasuke was still looking at her, but she knew that if she dared look at his face, she would lose it and cry until morning. And so, she settled on leaning against his chest, close enough that she could her his heartbeat, as a way to assure her that he was there, alive and breathing, beside her.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said after a while.

"Hn?" was Sasuke's reply, his voice thick with sleep.

"Nothing," she said, smiling to herself and snuggling closer. "Goodnight," she whispered, even though it was two o'clock in the morning.

When Sasuke didn't reply, she knew he was already sleeping. Her consciousness was quickly drifting away, but before she fully succumbed into the darkness, she whispered the words she'd always wanted to say, but didn't.

She said it because even though he was there, she knew it was okay because he wouldn't hear.

"I love you."

And the only ones who heard it were the moon, the darkness and the stars.

They kept her secret.

* * *

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura greeted cheerfully as he went down for breakfast that morning.

Sasuke nodded with a grunt as he walked towards the kitchen. Sakura giggled to herself. His hair was sticking up in every way it was almost comical.

"What?" Sasuke said flatly, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing." Sakura laughed as she wiped her hands with a dry towel. "I'm going to go out for a bit to buy supplies," she said, watching him grab a tomato from the fridge and sink his teeth into it.

"I've prepared lunch for you, you can heat it later when you get hungry, okay?" Sakura added; Sasuke grunted in response.

Sakura walked briskly towards the front door of their shared apartment.

"I'm going now!" she called out once she'd put on her outdoor shoes. Sakura paused before opening the door, waiting for his response. Sure enough, his gruff voice echoed across the hallway.

"Aa."

Sakura smiled, for she knew that if it were another person, he wouldn't have bothered replying at all.

* * *

Five years later, she still remembered that night clearly in her mind. The sun was just beginning to set, and the red-orange hue of the sky somehow made everything scarier.

She sat on a corner of what remained of her home, willowy wisps of smoke rising towards the sky. Young Sakura closed her eyes tightly, willing for the nightmare to end. She knew it wouldn't. It was all too real.

"No. We're too late. They're all gone..."

Sakura froze. There was somebody talking. Have they come back? Have they come back to kill her as well, just like what they did to her whole family?

Sakura pressed her lips together tightly, telling herself again and again not to make a sound and not to get discovered, but an involuntary sob escaped her lips.

"What was that?" somebody else - the one the first voice was talking to - called out.

The young girl quickly covered her mouth to stifle her sobs, but another came out.

"Who's there?" the first voice said.

Sakura's whole body shivered. She could hear footsteps coming closer. The squishing sound of foot against mud and blood were loud to her ears.

They're back. They're going to kill her, they're going to rip her arms and eyes and legs out, just like what they did to her mother and father -

"Hello?"

Sakura did not want to look at her killer, but she couldn't bring herself to close her eyes. She stared at him - her green, green, green eyes widening fearfully.

"Fugaku-san, it's -" A brown-haired man emerged from behind her killer (Fugaku, was that her killer's name?) but doesn't finish because Fugaku had extended his right hand towards her.

"Hello," he said softly. To Sakura's ears, it sounded too soft for someone who was going to kill her anyway.

"Come out," he persuaded, his voice gentle; Sakura only leaned further away from the man. "I won't hurt you."

Her killer stepped closer; her whole body shook in fear. "N-no, d-d-don't - !"

_Don't kill me! Please!_

"I won't hurt you," he said, crouching towards her. "I'm a friend."

For the first time, she looked at him and met his eyes. They were black, she noticed, black as night, black as coal. And they were soft - his eyes were too soft for a killer.

"I promise." Fugaku reached out to her again. "I promise, he repeated.

Slowly, she extended her hand. It was odd, really. It took her long to trust anyone, but one look at this man's dark eyes (you pitiful child...) and she suddenly felt at ease.

"My name is Fugaku." He closed his big hand around her small ones. "What is yours?"

Her killer - no, Sakura. Fugaku was not your killer - watched her, and she looked at him curiously. "Sa...kura," she said, still a little bit hesitant. "My name is...Sakura."

He smiled sadly. "Well then, Sakura... can you stand?"

Sakura nodded and stood up, relying on Fugaku's tight, protective grip for support. He spoke to the brown-haired man about something, but she did not hear him. Nor did she notice the dim pity in his eyes.

Sakura only watched the remnants of what was once her home as the sky grew darker, as the ashes drifted further and as the pain on her chest burned stronger.

Sakura looked at the bodies of her parents, of her aunts, of her cousins and told herself that she had to keep it together.

_"You have to be used to deaths, Sakura."_

_I'm sorry, Okaa-san, Otousan._

_"Such is the life of a shinobi."_

_I'm sorry._

* * *

Sakura couldn't really remember having a childhood before she came to the Uchiha family. Because for the first time, she was genuinely happy. For the first time she felt genuinely loved, not having to impress anyone and not having to surpass anyone's expectations. Life in Konoha was a clean slate, and though she would never forget how her life had been, she was ready to move forward.

Thinking about it again, Sakura wasn't sure she even had a childhood - but when she was with him, she felt the wonders of the world. For the first time, she saw what was beautiful.

"Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun!" young Sakura called as she jumped up and down beside a meadow of yellow flowers.

She saw Sasuke roll his eyes at her, but she paid this no heed to it. "Sasuke-kun, what are these flowers called?" she asked, pointing to the bed of yellow.

Sasuke paused for a moment, thinking of its name. "Daffodils," he finally said after a while.

"Daffodils," Sakura breathed, kneeling down to pick up one of them. She twirled the stem around, studying the flower's sunny color, the creases on its petals and the crown on the middle. Sakura didn't know why, but when she thought of daffodils, she also thought of Sasuke.

Later did she find out that daffodils was the symbol of unrequited love.

* * *

At first, she wasn't even sure if she was in love with Sasuke. She knew she felt something for him, but she always dismissed it as empathy.

_Sasuke-kun and I understand each other._

But that day, when Ino asked Sakura if she could help her win Sasuke's heart, something in her clicked.

She'd wanted to say yes. She'd wanted to help her friend and she knew that Ino was a good person and she meant no harm, but she also knew how straightforward and pushy Ino could be and she just couldn't, couldn't bring herself to say yes.

Sasuke-kun... Sasuke-kun needed healing. Sasuke-kun needed _her_.

"I..." Sakura blinked twice; the smile on Ino's face disappeared slowly.

"Sakura?"

Sakura gulped. "I..."

"Sakura, what's wrong?" Ino stepped closer, and without meaning to, Sakura stepped back. "Sakura, what is it."

Sakura clenched her fists. "I'm sorry, Ino. I can't."

Ino's baby blue eyes studied her carefully. "What do you mean you can't? You said you didn't like him, didn't you?"

"I -"

"So you lied? Ino prodded, walking towards her. Sakura kept as much distance between them as possible. "You do like him?"

"I -"

_Yes, Sakura. You love him. You've loved him all along._

"Tell me, Sakura!"

_Love..._

"You're not what he needs right now!" The words came out before she could stop them. Ino froze on her spot, looking at her with wide blue eyes. After a while, she recovered and her wide blue eyes narrowed.

"And you are?" she asked.

Sakura opened her mouth, and then closed it again.

_...What is love?_

"I..." Sakura clenched and unclenched her fists. (Am I?) The memories of the Uchiha Massacre drifted unto her mind - the Uchiha Massacre that Yamanaka Ino has probably not heard of, let alone understand. She was the only one left. She would not leave him. Not now, not ever. "Yes."

_Love is -_

For the first time, Yamanaka Ino had nothing to say, and Haruno Sakura gathered all the strength she had to continue speaking.

_"I'm here, Sasuke-kun."_

"From now on, Ino..." Sakura's fingers found the ribbon tied unto her head.

_"I will never, ever leave you."_

She pulled it free, and extended the red cloth towards the girl in front of her.

_- love is -!_

The ribbon swayed with the trees and with her short, pink hair.

_"I heard that Sasuke-kun liked girls with long hair!"_

"...we are rivals."

_...love...is...?_

* * *

Sakura went back home two hours after sundown that evening. She had bought groceries and new weapons and had cleaned the graves of the Uchiha Clan members before she sat down on the grass in the middle of a graveyard thinking about the events that happened about a week ago.

Team Seven had received a C-class mission (Except, it wasn't really C-class) and they were tasked to escort a bridge builder back to his country. Except... all things took turn for the worst. There, they met Zabuza, a feared assassin who even Kakashi had a hard time fighting. Zabuza had a companion - Haku - whom they (Naruto and Sasuke - _why are you so useless,_ _Sakura?)_ had fought with all their might.

And then...

_"I won't die."_

_..._she thought that Sasuke was dead.

Perhaps he really was in a temporary state of lifeless, but the feeling she felt when she thought he was gone forever... it brought back the memories she wanted to bury and hide and forget.

_Love is -_

Sakura was just about to open the door when it abruptly opened revealing a surprised (and slightly panicked) Sasuke looking at her.

Sakura had not even started her greeting ("Hey, Sasuke-kun!") because he was suddenly glaring at her and demanding where she had been and why she was late.

Sakura stood blinking at him in surprise. _He was worried?_

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her expectantly, and that was when she recovered.

Sakura let out a light laugh. _What are you saying, of course he was!_

And so she apologized and told him that she was going to make tomato soup for dinner. Sasuke grunted and closed the door behind him before following her to the kitchen.

Inwardly, Sakura smiled because she knew that in his own way, Sasuke loved her, too.

And it may not be the way she loved him or the way he loved his parents, but there was a place in his heart that was for her and for her only.

_...love...is -_

At that moment, Sakura contemplated if she should tell him how she felt about him - but she decided she wouldn't. She knew that Sasuke had other priorities, and knowing how Sasuke was, he would begin to treat her differently because he would be guilty of not feeling the same way towards her. And the least Sakura wanted was to change whatever they had between them

And so she buried her love deep in her heart and began to cook his favorite.

Luckily, the moon, the darkness and the stars said nothing.

* * *

**A/N: 03-03-13 un-beta-ed, un-edited**

I found not the need to write all that happened in the mission in Wave, so I did not. Generally, all things that happened in the manga/anime are the same as what happened here. The only difference is the last part - when Zabuza tells Naruto to not say anything anymore (see beginning of this chapter)

Anyway, writing in Sakura's perspective is harddd. Especially when she's angsty like this. I like writing through Sasuke's eyes. Meow. So anyway, thanks for waiting.

Review. xx


	9. her peculiarity

It all started while they were doing another D-Class mission. Their mission was simple, really: carry all one hundred pieces of logs to the farm on the other side of the mountain along a rocky path that anything with wheels can't pass through and do it all before sunset.

Yes, the mission was easy.

...if the logs weren't so damn _heavy_!

Sakura wheezed as she took another step up the terrain, four pieces of thick logs balanced on her shoulders. There were three other women trailing behind Team 7, who were also carrying their own set of logs. They were the landlord's servants; Sakura remembered the landlord ordering them to help with the whole "log-transfer mission".

Sakura wheezed again, this time, Naruto looked back at her general direction and frowned.

"Girls aren't supposed to carry that anything _that_ heavy!" the blonde said. Sakura opened her mouth to say, she was faring well, Naruto, so thank you for your concern, when Naruto moved past her and went to help the three women.

"Sasuke-teme, come here and help, too!" Naruto said, taking one log from each of the servants. Sasuke, although grumbling, took one from each as well, leaving the three women with only two logs to carry.

Sakura gaped at her two teammates. "What, so _I'm_ not a girl?"

Naruto smiled meekly. "You know _I_ don't mean that, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura frowned for a moment, but decided to not let Naruto's earlier statement offend her. (He probably meant that Sakura was _stronger_ than any ordinary woman, anyway.)

That is, until Sasuke decided to scoff and walk away mumbling, "Yeah right, she's practically a man."

Sakura's face fumed. "What did you say?!" she snapped at the Uchiha. Sasuke, in turn, just rolled his onyx eyes at her and continued his walking.

Sakura dug her nails unto the crisp bark coating the logs she was carrying.

_Practically a man, huh?_

Angrily, Sakura stomped towards the three women (Who were cringing at her facial expression - not that she noticed.) and took one from each, imitating what her two teammates did earlier and added them to her load.

Huffing, she held her head high and brisk-walked until she was in front of both Naruto and Sasuke before she turned to glare at the both of them.

Naruto cringed as well, but Sasuke only glared back.

"Hmp!" Sakura continued walking, this time, with everyone else trailing behind her.

_I'll show you manly!_

* * *

**Chapter 9: Haruno Sakuragi!**

* * *

"Good morning!"

Naruto turned to face his teammate. "Good morning, Saku...ra-_chan_?" the blonde trailed off, observing said teammate from head to toe.

"What's with the get-up?" Sasuke, who was leaning on the railing in a cool manner (as usual) asked, before Naruto could. He chose to go to the Team 7's meet-up place on his own because Sakura had taken too long to finish in the bathroom earlier that morning.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked back, blinking innocently. She was wearing a loose red t-shirt with the Haruno insignia emblazoned on her back and a pair of ninja pants and ninja sandals. She also wore a pair of black leather gloves and her hair was pulled up on a tight bun. Her forehead protector, which she usually wore as a headband, was tied around her waist.

Sasuke just rolled his eyes and looked away.

"Hey, Naruto?" Sakura said, looking at the blond who was gaping at her attire. "Don't call me Sakura-chan from now on, 'kay? Call me Sakuragi!"

Naruto blinked at her in confusion. "O-okay, Sakura-cha - err... I mean, Sakuragi."

Sakura grinned boyishly. "Good," she said, while she turned to her other teammate. "You, too, okay, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke scowled, the beginnings of a sarcastic retort on the tip of his tongue, when a loud 'poof' was heard.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're late!" Naruto yelled, pointing an accusing finger at their sensei.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, you see, an old woman was anguishing over her back when -" Kakashi stopped in mid-sentence when he noticed Sakura's peculiar get-up. "Why, Sakura-chan, don't we look dashing today!"

"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said grinning again. "It's Sakuragi-kun now."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow and glanced at his students for an answer, but Naruto merely looked away nervously and Sasuke glared at him silently saying, "Don't you _dare_ encourage her."

But when a mischievous glint in Kakashi's eye appeared, Sasuke knew he was doomed forever.

"You're welcome, Sakuragi-kun."

...Or at least until he convinces Sakura that her little dress-up game was beyond ridiculous.

* * *

Sakura found her make-over very fascinating. The world of men was indeed very different from the world of women. For one, she could actually just walk casually down the streets and not care about how her hair is. Secondly, she had the freedom to inhale ramen much like Naruto did. Naruto commended that she was doing good on her first try, but nobody could beat him at a ramen-slurping contest. Sasuke, frankly, was not the one to hide his disgust.

Sasuke was indeed looking _very_ irritated that day, Sakura mused. He had been scowling more than usual and glaring at everything that caught his eyes. Once, it had been a baby who was coincidentally looking back at him. The baby had started crying... and the mother, well, she really didn't know what was going on.

Sakura could have scolded Sasuke, but then she remembered that she wasn't Sakura anymore so, instead, she thought of what Naruto would say and told the (very) annoyed Uchiha, "Even babies know how much of a bastard you are, oh, Holy Bastard-ness!"

Naruto was guffawing in the background and rolling on the floor; Sasuke couldn't have glared any harder.

* * *

When it was time for Team 7 to go back to the village after their harvesting mission, Sakura suddenly froze in mid-step.

The three, noticing that Sakura was no longer walked with them stopped to look at her quizzically.

"What's up, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked. When Sakura didn't even bother to correct the blonde, unlike what she did the whole day, ("I _told_ you! I'm Sakuragi-kun!") Sasuke knew there really _was_ something wrong. Kakashi, noticing this, too, finally put down his orange book.

Sakura's green eyes looked up at the three, with her right hand unconsciously on her hip. "I think I lost my forehead protector," she admitted, frowning.

"Where do you think you lost it?" Kakashi asked, resuming his reading.

"I -" But before Sakura could continue, something cold and hard was shoved into her chest. She looked at the object - it was her forehead protector!

Sakura smiled broadly at the person who had handed her forehead protector back to her. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun!" she said cheerfully.

Sasuke grunted back at her. "I found it just before we left the farm," he said.

At that time, Sakura was so happy that she just about wanted to embrace the Uchiha in gratitude. But then she realized... Naruto most certainly _didn't_ hug other boys when he was thankful, and Sasuke was too tall for her to ruffle his hair like Kakashi did, so she did the best thing she could think of:

...she slapped his butt.

"Thanks, Sasuke-kun!" she said again, catching up with Naruto and Kakashi, who had already resumed their walking.

Sasuke never looked more ready to kill.

* * *

After three whole days of pure_ hi-I'm-Haruno-Sakuragi-pleased-to-meet-you_ agony, Uchiha Sasuke decided that he had enough. And so, with a new found goal in his mind (_Make Sakura stop this nonsense, hn_.), he walked purposefully to the bathroom.

Sakura jumped in surprise when he entered. "Sasuke-kun, what are you doing, I'm not done yet!"

Sasuke ignored that she was only wearing her bathrobe (thank _Kami _she was wearing it) and her hair was still dripping wet and proceeded to grab his toothbrush and squeeze it with toothpaste.

"Hey, you can't just enter like that! I wasn't done changing!" Sakura yelled, punching him by his shoulder.

"So?" Sasuke raised his eyebrow at her. "You can change while I'm in here. After all, we're both guys, right?"

Sasuke watched as Sakura's face turned tomato-red and smirked at the fact that for the first time in three days, Sakura did not say anything about 'the beauty of being male'. Instead, she grabbed her clothes and stomped towards her room, her hair dripping water all over the floor.

He wished he'd done this "If you can't beat them, join them" tactic sooner.

* * *

Sasuke watched Sakura twirl a kunai idly in his peripheral vision. Kakashi had asked them to meet for another mission briefing that day and as per usual, Naruto and Kakashi were running late. They were sitting underneath a tree on the training ground when Sasuke thought about whether or not he should continue his plan of making Sakura come into her senses (well she _was _twirling a damn _kunai_, for heaven's sake) and after awhile, he decided that, yes, he should.

And so, sighing softly, Sasuke laid down on Sakura's lap. The contact immediately made Sakura stiffen.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun, what are you doing?" Sakura stammered. Sasuke had his eyes closed to protect his eyes from the sunlight that peeked through the leaves of the tree, but he really didn't need to open them to realize that Sakura was blushing.

"I'm resting," Sasuke answered simply.

"Wh-what are you doing?! Get off!" Sakura said, attempting to push Sasuke's head away from her lap, but to no avail.

"Surely you're not flustered," Sasuke said, finally opening his eyes. "Since we're guy buddies and all."

"You don't do this with Naruto," Sakura pointed out, glaring as hard as she could.

"Yeah, well, you're my best buddy," Sasuke said, closing his eyes once again.

Sasuke was surprised that Sakura had said nothing in return. Perhaps she was secretly happy about the contact, or perhaps not. Perhaps she was really that gullible to believe that guy _buddies _did this with each other. Either way, Sasuke opened his eyes again. He noticed that Sakura still had that kunai around her fingers, but she wasn't twirling it anymore. Sasuke didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but he decided to take his chances.

"Your eyes," he said; Sakura glanced briefly at him and then looked away again.

"What about them?" she said flatly. A slight pink still dusted her cheeks, but she looked more annoyed than embarrassed now.

Sasuke brushed his fingers against her cheek. "They're peculiar," Sasuke answered. Sakura blushed tomato-red again, just like that morning. Sasuke smirked to himself again. That meant he was winning.

"Sakura?" Sasuke said softly.

"What," Sakura said through her gritted teeth. She was still looking away from him.

"Look at me." She didn't. And so with his hand, he turned her head towards him. And the moment their eyes met...

"SAKURA-CHYAAAAN! SASUKE-TEMEEEEEE!"

...Naruto's loud, _annoying _voice echoed across the training grounds.

Sasuke was pushed away from Sakura faster than Naruto could say "ramen."

And when Naruto's perfectly-timed arrival finally came, a furiously blushing Sakura was stomping away and Sasuke was nursing a new bump on his head.

* * *

"Sakura," Sasuke called from the bathroom to the kitchen.

"What?" Sakura's distant voice echoed.

"We're out of towels," he answered.

"Wait, I'll get you some!"

Sasuke waited a few moments before he saw trace of pink hair by the stairway.

"Here you g - SASUKE-KUN! WHAT - WEAR _SOMETHING _WILL YOU!" Sakura shrieked, throwing a warm towel at his face.

Sasuke glared. Well, he was wearing his _boxers _for Kami's sake, what, did that count as _nothing_?

"I thought you were a man," Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Men don't get flustered over topless men."

Sakura had began saying it before she could stop herself. "But I'm not -!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow expectantly when she halted at mid-sentence. "You're not what?"

Sakura glared at him and narrowed her eyes, completely forgetting the fact that Sasuke was still only in his boxers. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sasuke shrugged.

"Yes you do!" Sakura hissed. "You're flustering me on purpose, you bastard!"

"Well, you wouldn't get flustered if you were really a man," Sasuke countered. Somehow, his calmness only irked Sakura more.

"_You_ were the one who said I was practically a man anyway!" Sakura yelled, pointing an accusing finger at him.

Sasuke's dark eyes narrowed in annoyance. "You know that wasn't what I meant."

"Then, what _did _you mean?" Sakura dared, looking at him expectantly.

"You're a shinobi and you're a girl," Sasuke answered, rolling his eyes. "You can do things other men can't."

Sakura raised one pink eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Is this your way of saying sorry?"

"No. It's my way of saying you're stupid," Sasuke said, walking towards the bathroom. Before closing the door, he called out, "You're a girl, Sakura."

* * *

The next day, Sasuke was more than happy to see that Sakura was back to wearing her normal clothing - a red dress and black shorts.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, what made you go back to being a girl again?" Naruto asked curiously.

Sasuke saw the pink-haired girl shrug. "I'm a shinobi and a girl, which means I am capable of things other men aren't capable of!" she said proudly.

Sasuke smirked to himself.

_Mission accomplished._

* * *

**A/N: un-edited; un-beta-ed**

Here's to DSikitty2224 for noticing the equation I've been flashing in front of everybody since the beginning of this fanfiction!

Amegakure as Sakura's hometown + Sakura's clan being shinobi + Sakura's clan dead = something about the Akatsuki

I found writing this chapter very amusing. Writing in Sasuke-kun's perspective is so amusing it amuses me. (wat)_  
_

ALSO ALSO ALSO, follow me on tumblr! aminatsu032. tumblr. com

I love you all! Review xx


	10. her weakness

Naruto skipped towards Team Seven's meeting place grinning from ear to ear. It had been approximately a week since their last mission and he was more than excited to hear from Kakashi again. He looked at Sakura, who had her hands on her hips, looking absently at the sky. It was odd that she was not chatting with Sasuke (the scene to which he always arrived to) this time and that she was quite obviously ignoring the dark-haired boy who was leaning against the railing. He wondered if it had anything to do with Sakura's cross-dressing, but quickly brushed the thought aside.

Naruto snored to himself. _The teme_? Having anything to do with Sakura's decision to go back to being a girl? Highly unlikely!

Although he was, in a way, relieved that Sakura had gone back to wearing her red dress and hitai-ate like a hair band because it wasn't like Sakura would even consider going on a date with him if she were a _boy_.

Well, she was never a boy to begin with, but still, that would be awkward.

And other people who wouldn't have known that Sakura was really a girl wouldn't understand that she was a girl and would think that Naruto was, well, gay. Which, in fact, he wasn't and -

Naruto immediately stopped his train of thoughts and mentally patted himself on the head. He was blabbering in his mind again. He didn't usually think too much when he was alone, or when he was with other people, but whenever he was with Sakura, there was something inside of him that made his heart beat a little bit faster and his brain think non-stop.

He vaguely wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that he was in love with her.

Naruto swallowed, giving no outward indication that he was mentally distraught, and marched up to Sakura. "Good morning, Sakura-chyan!"

Sakura turned to him, her green eyes blinking once, as if he pulled her out of her reverie, and smiled back at him. "Good morning, Naruto."

_Naruto_. Naruto sighed. There was something about the way Sakura said his name that made his brain turn to mush. There was no suffix, no form of endearment, but it was surrounded by familiarity.

"Naruto."

Naruto never loved his name more. And that was saying something because he loved his name very, very much because it reminded him of ramen.

"Oi, Dobe."

Naruto stiffened and narrowed his eyes.

And _then_ there was Sasuke.

Naruto didn't know what it was about the guy that infuriated him so. Perhaps it was the way he stood with his back curved elegantly and his chin held up like he was an aristocrat. Or perhaps it was the way he rolled his eyes at him like his very existence was pathetic. Or perhaps it was the way the girls swooned at the sight of him, or the way all the promising enemies noticed _him_ first, if they ever noticed Naruto at all. Or perhaps it was the way Sakura looked at him - like the the way he would look at a bowl of hot, steaming ramen after a long, long day and the way he would look at his favorite brand of instant ramen on the grocery store and knowing it was something he couldn't afford combined.

Sakura looked at Sasuke like that - like he was her most favorite person in the world (maybe he was) but he was something that could never really be hers.

Or perhaps that wasn't really his problem. Maybe his problem was that Sasuke never even _looked_ at Sakura, unless he really needed to. Sure, Sakura and Sasuke lived together, and sometimes, Naruto thought that maybe it _was_ the only reason Sasuke tolerated Sakura.

Well, whatever the reason was, Naruto hated him.

"Naruto, are you okay?" Naruto was instantly aware of Sakura's jade-colored eyes looking at him in concern.

Naruto grinned at her. "Of course I am, Sakura-chan! Why do you think I wouldn't be?"

"Because she's been calling your name over and over and you weren't responding," Sasuke drawled from where he was standing, rolling his dark eyes at him.

Naruto only glared at his direction. He then looked back at Sakura again. "I'm fine, Sakura-chan! Just thinking of what our next mission would be!"

"Oh," Sakura smiled and her eyes shined brightly. "Well, I hope it's not going to be one of those dog-walking missions we've always been getting lately."

Naruto groaned. "Yes, those missions are torture! I want to beat the crappy ass out of a hardcore enemy, dattebayo!"

Sakura grinned, just then, a lazy voice said from somewhere above, "Good, you're all here. I got lost on my way -"

Naruto and Sakura glared at Kakashi as hard as they could and yelled: "LIAR!"

* * *

**Chapter 10: We All Want To Be Stronger**

* * *

Sakura nervously glanced from Naruto to Sasuke and sighed. She had thought that after their mission at Wave, the tension between her two teammates would disappear. Now, it was worse than ever (or better, whichever way you wanted to look at it).

Naruto's hair and clothes were still damp from his mishap at the river. He had accidentally slipped while they were collecting trash and had almost gone down the waterfall, if it hadn't been for Sasuke who had saved him on the last second.

If anything, Naruto should have been thankful that Sasuke had once again saved his life, but of course, he wasn't. Naruto thought of it as mockery and in no way was he going to succumb to gratitude.

Not that Sakura didn't understand him. More than once, had she thought of herself as someone useless.

...and maybe she was.

Sasuke... Sasuke was like the sun. You looked at him, you knew he was dangerous, but you looked at him nonetheless. Because there was something about his dangerous magnificence that made you want to know more about him. And Naruto... Naruto was like a distant star. You would not notice him at first, but if you looked - _really_ looked - you'd see that he was shining as bright as the sun and that he was also magnificent, in his own peculiar way.

And Sakura, Sakura thought, she was...

"Hey Teme!" Naruto was closer to Sasuke now, his look challenging. "I'll beat you, you know. Someday, I will kick your ass and you would remember that it was I, Uzumaki Naruto, who did it!"

...Sakura was a flashlight.

The pink-haired girl sighed. A flashlight. How degrading.

"Instead of declaring your fantasies to me, why don't you just train?" Sasuke sneered, glaring at the blonde. "You're pathetic. Why don't you just grow stronger so I wouldn't have to save you all the time?"

Naruto clenched his fists and glared back.

_Oh no_, Sakura thought. If she didn't step out now, things could get ugly.

She cast a glance at Kakashi, who was reading his bright orange book behind her and who looked like he wasn't going to do anything to stop the two from punching each other's faces in the middle of the street.

"Hey, hey, enough of that," Sakura said, stepping out in between her teammates. She looked at Sasuke and forced a smile. "Sasuke-kun, why don't we just go somewhere and eat, hm?"

"You're the same as him," Sasuke told her, his eyes as cold as ice.

Sakura blinked. "What?"

"You and Naruto," Sasuke continued. "You're both weaklings. Why don't you stop following me wherever I go and make yourself stronger?"

It felt like Sasuke had ripped her heart out from her chest and squeezed it. She knew somewhere in his mind, Sasuke thought of Sakura as weak, but she never knew he would say it. Not in front of Naruto and Kakashi. Not like this.

_You're nothing but a defective flashlight._

Or maybe she wasn't a light at all. A flashlight was still useful. She... she was an appendix.

An expression of clear regret crossed Sasuke's face and before he could say anything (because Sakura knew he meant it, no matter how slight, and she wouldn't delude herself into thinking she was somebody better), she turned around and walked away. She barely noticed Naruto's shocked expression and Kakashi's curious gaze and continued walking without so much as a glance back.

Somewhere in her mind, she heard her mother's voice say to her, _"You are weak, Sakura."_

* * *

Sasuke saw Naruto cast him a murderous glare before turning around and following Sakura.

Sasuke clenched his fists. He hadn't meant it. He hadn't meant to say that. He knew Sakura was strong - hell, she was one of the strongest people he knew! She was always determined, free-spirited and forgiving. He knew she would never back down from anything. If it hadn't been for her, he wouldn't have made it here.

He hadn't meant to say that. He was angry - Sakura had been avoiding him for the past few days and that morning, when Naruto showed up, he saw Sakura smile for the first time in _days_. And his first thought after seeing it was that, _it wasn't because of him._

And then he went and saved Naruto and couldn't help snapping at him when he declared that 'he would kick his ass' after he'd just almost fallen down a waterfall. And then Sakura waltzed in and he could just _feel_ that she was going to take Naruto's side and -

"Looks to me like you're jealous," Kakashi's lazy voice drawled. Sasuke looked up. He had almost forgotten his teacher was there.

"I never really found out what made Sakura go back to dressing up as a girl," his teacher continued. "Care to share?"

"It's none of your business," Sasuke said through gritted teeth.

Kakashi raised one silver eyebrow, his eyes glinting with amusement. "You could just say you're sorry," he said. "She'll forgive you, you know."

Yes. She would. But she was never going to forget what he said. Ever.

"Well, I'll see you around, then," Kakashi said before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Sasuke sighed and raked his hand through his dark hair.

_"Looks to me like you're jealous."_

"I'm not jealous," Sasuke muttered to no one in particular.

* * *

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura continued walking, not bothering to look behind her.

"Sakura-chyan! Come on! Talk to me!" Naruto whined, catching up to her. Sakura walked faster, but it was no use. The next moment, Naruto's hand was already on her shoulder. "Sakura-chan!"

Sakura turned around and looked at Naruto's worried face. She was about to tell him that she was _fine_ and it was _okay _when she saw something moving behind him.

Sakura blinked and tilted her head. "Naruto, what -"

The thing moved again, and this time, Naruto felt it. She saw his blue eyes narrow in suspicion.

Behind him was a... rock. Except it didn't look like a rock. It was a rectangular paper-mâché _thing_ that was supposed to resemble a rock.

Naruto withdrew his hand from her shoulder and ran. Strangely, enough, the 'rock' followed him. Naruto immediately stopped running and faced the 'rock'. It halted and Sakura could just hear panting from the inside.

"What kind of rock has two holes in front?" Naruto said.

Sakura heard murmurs from inside the 'rock' and the next second, Sakura found herself inhaling powder.

Sakura coughed and when the powder finally cleared, she saw three children (also coughing) stand up.

"I'm Konohamaru!" the black-haired boy said bearing the hyperactivity that's reminiscent of Naruto.

"I'm Moegi!" the orange-haired girl said, with a pose.

"I'm Udon!" said the last of the three, who had brown hair and thick glasses.

"Konohamaru! What are you doing here?" Naruto demanded, looking down at the child. "And what's with those goggles?"

Sakura noticed that the three had green goggles around their foreheads, just like Naruto did before he sported the Konoha forehead protector.

"We're following the footsteps of our senpai, of course!" Konohamaru said, consciously adjusting his goggles.

Sakura looked at Konohamaru and giggled. It seemed that Naruto had fans of his own.

Konohamaru, noticing Sakura for the first time, blinked twice and signalled Naruto to crouch down so he could whisper something to him.

After a while, she saw a blush crawl on Naruto's cheeks. "W-we're not - she's not -" he stuttered, but Konohamaru was still grinning up at him.

Then, he marched up towards Sakura and held his hand towards her. "Hi, I'm Konohamaru! It's nice to meet you, Nee-chan!"

Sakura shook his hand and smiled. "I'm Sakura. It's nice to meet you, Konohamaru," she said. "You're the Hokage's grandson, aren't you?" she asked, recognizing his unique name.

Konohamaru grinned widely. "I see I have not escaped recognition of my great self! I must have saved you from somewhere before!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because about a million other people are named 'Konohamaru'."

Sakura turned her head to Konohamaru's companions. "You're Moegi and you're Udon," she said, pointing to the girl and the boy respectively, remembering their introductions.

"Yes," Udon said in his nasal voice at the same moment Moegi said, "That's right!"

"And you're Naruto-onii-chan's girlfriend!" Moegi said, shoving Konohamaru aside.

Naruto's face colored again, shaking his head at Sakura. "I - I never said that!" Then at Moegi, "She's not my girlfriend -"

"We're just friends," Sakura said, smiling at the three.

Konohamaru's dark eyes glinted with mischief. "But Naruto-senpai said -"

Sakura never knew what Naruto had told Konohamaru because his hand was suddenly on his mouth.

Naruto laughed nervously. "Ahehehe. Ignore him, Sakura-chan. He doesn't know what he's saying -"

At that moment, Konohamaru had managed to struggle out of Naruto's grasp and ran away saying, "He said that -" he began.

Naruto stumbled, face flushed, after the Hokage's grandson. "GET BACK HERE YOU!" he yelled as they disappeared through the corner.

Sakura smiled and followed them with Moegi and Udon trailing after her. She didn't know what she'd expected when she saw them again - probably Naruto scolding Konohamaru - but she hadn't expected Konohamaru being lifted of the ground by a strange guy with dark clothes and purple tattoos all over his face.

"Konohamaru!" she heard Moegi say from beside her.

Sakura recognized the headband immediately - Sand.

But what was someone from the Wind Country doing here in Konoha?

"Kankuro, put the kid down," someone - a girl - said from beside the tattooed man. She had sun-kissed hair, almost like Naruto's hair color, and there was something big strapped behind her. Sakura realized it was a fan.

"Did you know that hurt, kid?" Kankuro said, ignoring the blonde girl. "Did you?"

There was something about this guy that made Sakura's skin crawl. Her first instinct was to call for the authorities, but then Sasuke's voice in her head stopped her.

_"You're weak."_

Sakura clenched her jaw. She was a shinobi, for Kami's sake! She _was_ the authority!

"LET HIM GO!" Naruto yelled, charging towards Kankuro... but he never reached him. Suddenly, Naruto back flipped in the air and stumbled to the ground.

Sakura stepped forward, reaching for her kunai holster. _How did that happen?!_

Sakura's fingers closed around her cold kunai. She calculated where to throw and she was almost going to - until something hit Kankuro's hand, making him let go of Konohamaru immediately.

The kid yelped in pain, but scrambled to his feet nonetheless.

"So what is someone from Suna doing here?" someone said.

Sakura froze. She knew that voice - she knew it like her own name.

Her eyes followed where it came from and saw Sasuke perched on a branch of a nearby tree, playing with a small rock idly.

Sakura's heart leaped in a way it shouldn't.

In her peripheral vision, she saw that everybody was as shocked as she was.

"You -" Kankuro gritted through his teeth and took somethingfrom his back. Sakura hadn't noticed it before - it was big, almost as big as the blonde girl's fan. It was wrapped in bandages and on top of it was... _hair_?

Sasuke smirked, clearly accepting a challenge.

Sakura pressed her lips together. _Sasuke-kun, no._

"Kankuro."

Sakura blinked. Suddenly, someone else had arrived.

Kankuro froze in a way one would freeze if he something he feared was nearby - in his case, some_one_.

Hanging up-side down on the tree branch opposite where Sasuke was sitting on was a red-haired boy with pale blue-green eyes. She saw Sasuke stiffen. He hadn't noticed the boy either.

"Stop it. We are not here to fight," the red-haired boy said.

"G-Gaara - I wasn't going to -" Kankuro started, but then something peculiar happened. Gaara dissolved into... sand.

And then suddenly he was on the ground standing with Kankuro and the blonde girl.

"Let's go," Gaara said, already started to walk away. Kankuro and the other girl followed behind him obediently and Sakura finally found her voice.

"Wait," she said, relieved that her voice didn't shake. She was vaguely aware that Sasuke had stepped down from the tree and was now beside her - a protective gesture he probably wasn't aware of.

"I know for one that the Wind Country and the Fire Country are not closely allied," Sakura said. "And you are not permitted to enter Konoha without authorization. So what is someone from the Wind Country doing here?"

To her surprise, it was the blonde girl who turned and smirked. She flashed something in front of her. "This is my visitor's pass," she said. Sakura tried to read what her name was, but it was too far away. "We're here to take part of the Chuunin Exam."

"The Chuunin Exam?" Naruto echoed behind her.

"You really know nothing, don't you?" the blonde said, with a mocking tone.

To her surprise, it was Konohamaru who answered. "The Chuunin Exam is an exam genin takes to rank up to chuunin."

"Really?" Naruto said, turning towards the boy.

The girl turned around again and followed her companions.

"Wait." It was Sasuke this time. None of the three stopped or turned towards him. "What's your name?"

The blonde turned again. "Me?" she said, her eyes shining flirtatiously. Sakura suddenly felt a strange annoyance towards the girl.

"No," Sasuke answered. "The guy with the red hair."

Gaara stopped at his tracks and turned towards Sasuke.

"Sabaku," Gaara answered, "no Gaara. And you?"

"Uchiha Sasuke," Sasuke answered.

After a beat, Gaara turned around again and started walking. It was when they disappeared into the street that Sakura let go of the breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

Sakura turned around and pressed her lips together. "Well, I have to go as well," she said stiffly before turning around and walking away - _praying _that Sasuke wouldn't come after her.

"Sakura."

_But he did_, Sakura drawled sarcastically. _Of course he did._

Sakura stopped at her tracks and turned towards him. "Yes?" she asked, keeping her voice as light as possible.

Sasuke's eyes avoided hers. "Listen, about earlier -"

"It's fine, Sasuke-kun," she cut off. She didn't want him to apologize - she didn't even want him to _try_. There was nothing to apologize about, anyway.

Sasuke's dark eyes flickered towards hers and her heart leaped again, and she mentally cursed herself for it. It started since Sasuke had convinced her to go back to acting like a girl. She didn't know why, but when she looked at him, or when she was at the same room as he was, her heart would beat faster and she would suddenly be conscious of her movements - which, happened all the time. And so she did what she could to avoid him. Well, as much as anyone sharing an apartment could avoid her flatmate, anyway. But she was sure Sasuke hadn't noticed. She made it as subtle as possible.

"Sakura -" Sasuke started, taking one step forward. Unconsciously, she took one step back. Something crossed Sasuke's face then. An expression she had never seen him wear before. Hurt? But it was gone just as fast as it came.

"I just need to be alone right now," Sakura said. She was the one avoiding his eyes this time. "I'll be back home later."

And then she ran.

* * *

Sakura came back home a little after ten. She had visited Mikoto and Fugaku's graves and found herself sitting on the ground and staring blankly into space. She knew it was the one place Sasuke wouldn't bother to look, because not once had he visited his parent's graves before. She had always been the one who cleaned the place and put fresh flowers on their tombstones. Besides, it wasn't like she had anywhere to go to, anyway. She couldn't go to Naruto's because then he'd want her to _talk _and she just didn't want to talk to anyone right now. She doubted she could go to Kakashi's, wherever it is he lived at. And she could_ possibly _go back at their shared apartment, because Sasuke would be there.

It was during these times that she wished she had kept Ino as her friend.

But, no. It wasn't going to do anything now. It was Sakura who decided that they be rivals.

And, ironically, the person who was the reason why she cut off her friendship with Ino was the person who she was avoiding right now.

Sakura opened the door as silently as she could and looked around the living room. Most of the lights were off and she could feel Sasuke's chakra inside his room.

He was probably sleeping, she thought. She vaguely wondered if he'd eaten dinner before he went to bed.

Sakura padded to the kitchen to prepare something to eat and was surprised to find a microwavable container by the counter, wrapped in plastic. There was a post it on the plastic and in Sasuke's elegant handwriting was her name.

Slowly, Sakura smiled.

She knew this was Sasuke's way of saying sorry.

* * *

**A/N: **It's funny how different people think differently. For instance, Naruto thinks Sasuke does not look at Sakura in the same way she looks at him (if he even looked at her at all), but we all know he does. Naruto just doesn't notice it. I doubt Sakura does either. And then there's Sakura 'subtly' avoiding Sasuke. Sakura thinks Sasuke hadn't noticed, but he did.

Which all boils down to what Kakashi notices.

Hmm. I'd love to write in his perspective soon.

To all the 233 followers this fanfiction has, I love you all.

Please review. Reviews make me happy hihi xx


	11. her depression

"Hey, hey, did you hear? For the first time in five years, there are gonna be rookies in the exam."

A girl in a pink Chinese-style tank top snickered, twirling her kunai idly in her hand. "No way! It's just probably some stubborn jounin in competition or something."

"No," her team mate said. He was clad in green spandex and his Konoha hitai-ate glinted in the sunlight. "The story is that three of them are students of Kakashi."

"That does sound interesting," another voice said, the conversation finally catching his interest. He was sitting in a meditative position, just below a target dummy that the girl was using for practice. To any outsider, it might've looked dangerous, but the three were so familiar with each other's capabilities already that they knew what to expect. "But in the end –" The girl let her kunai fly, and it hit the bulls eye just above the boy's head. The boy smirked, his pale eyes narrowing a by fraction. "-you'll have to feel sorry for them."

* * *

**Chapter 11: Formidable Opponents**

* * *

Sakura sighed, feeling a vein twitch in her forehead. It was unfair – she barely had sleep last night and she had to get up early because she had to train and then she didn't realize what time it was so she hadn't gone to shower yet and she felt uncomfortably sticky and sore. The last thing she needed was to stand in the sun waiting for her ever so punctual sensei!

"HOW CAN THIS BE ALLOWED!" she yelled at whoever it was governing time and space up above. "WHY DOES THAT PERSON ASK US TO MEET AND THEN MAKE US WAIT!"

"Yeah! Sakura-chan is right!" Naruto quipped in the background. "I overslept so I didn't get to wash my face and brush my teeth!"

But before Sakura could comment on how disgusting that was (although she wasn't really the one to talk) -

"Yo! Sorry I'm late. Today, I got lost in the road of life -"

"YOU LIAR!" Naruto and Sakura yelled as they pointed accusingly at their silver-haired sensei.

Sasuke, who was leaning against the bridge railing, sighed in the background.

Kakashi ignored his students' outburst and stepped down lightly before them. "What I have to talk to you about today is important," he said, fishing something from inside his jounin vest. He handed one paper to each of them.

"I've nominated you guys for the Chuunin Exam," Kakashi explained. "Here are your applications."

Sakura blinked in confusion. "W-_what_?!"

"The Chuunin Exam?!" Naruto exclaimed at the same time. "I'm still not going to forgive you for - " His blue eyes scanned the piece of paper in his hands and widened. "IT'S REAL! IT'S REALLY AN APPLICATION! I LOVE YOU, KAKASHI-SENSEI!" ...And then he tackled Kakashi into a hug.

Kakashi, taken by surprise, tumbled backwards a bit before disentangling the loud blonde's arms from around his neck.

"This is just a nomination," Kakashi continued as Naruto settled down. "Whether you take the exam is entirely up to you. Those of you who wish to join should submit their applications at Room 301 by four o'clock tomorrow. That's all."

Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving the three staring at their individual forms. Naruto was the first to move; Sasuke and Sakura followed behind him.

Sakura noticed that the both of them had distant expressions on their faces, and she vaguely wondered if they were already thinking about what they would do to prepare for the exams.

Sakura sighed, feeling the inferiority bubble up in her chest again.

Sakura was trailing behind the both of them now. Lost in thought, she skidded into a stop.

_I can't even keep up with Sasuke-kun and Naruto... And now the Chuunin Exam -_

"Sakura." Sakura broke away from her thoughts and saw obsidian-colored eyes staring at her from the distance.

Sakura shook her head. No. She had to be strong.

She forced a smile up at Sasuke. "Coming," she said.

* * *

The academy was swarming with people at three in the afternoon the next day. Sasuke scanned the crowd for a familiar face with red-hair - Sabaku no Gaara - and stopped when he saw a blonde boy in orange gear waving their way.

"Teme! Sakura-chan!" Naruto called.

Sakura, who was beside Sasuke, waved back at him. "Hey there, Naruto!" she said.

Sakura observed the pink-haired girl closely. She was rarely at home lately; Sasuke observed. And though he rarely was either, it was quite unusual to arrive home at the end of the day without her smiling up at him and calling him for dinner.

He knew it was mostly his fault, after his remark about her being worse than Naruto (which he was regretful about), but every time he tried to talk to her about it, Sakura brushed him off and changed the subject.

They also talked less. Usually, it would be Sakura who would try to initiate a conversation by babbling off things concerning the village (politics, mostly) or about what she thought of of the recent events in her favorite TV drama.

But it was different now. Sakura was always... absent. And not just physically.

Often, he'd catch her staring off into space, her green eyes far away.

Sasuke had a gnawing feeling that something was wrong.

...And then he felt it.

They were walking up the academy staircase (with Sakura and Naruto behind him conversing about the application form) when he felt a cold sensation was up through him. His vision blurred for a moment, and there was a brief, but loud ringing in his ears.

Sasuke, who studied about jutsus long enough knew what this meant: genjutsu.

Behind him, he felt Sakura tense, her green eyes darting suspiciously in every direction. Her years with the Uchiha clan had greatly increased her genjutsu sensing abilities. With that, and Sakura's uncanny chakra control, he knew she felt it too. Naruto, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice anything.

Their eyes met briefly, and she subtly nodded once.

Sasuke knew what she meant - that they should continue forward and see what was going on. After all, perhaps this was part of the test, too.

The trio stopped at their tracks before a crowd that gathered in front of them. Nobody seemed to notice them approaching - they were too busy watching the scene before them.

Sasuke craned his head. In front of the room labeled "301" were two boys about their age glaring at someone who was sprawled on the ground. Sasuke saw the bright green color of the boy's suit before the prominent bruises on his face.

"Hah! You plan to take the Chuunin Exam with that?!" one of the boys said, glaring. He was clad in dark clothing, and around his forehead he wore the Konoha insignia. "You should quit now!"

"Yeah, you're just a kid," his companion quipped. This one had bandages all around his face, though Sasuke knew they weren't really bandages - they were meant for Chakra control.

"Please," a girl from the crowd said, stepping closer to the green-clad boy. Sasuke guessed that she knew him. "Let us through."

She tried to reason out with the two, but they struck her right on the face.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, fighting the urge to join the fight himself - although he knew he couldn't do that. This was some kind of test and he knew it. He wondered how many of the people in the crowd were involved in it.

He felt a movement beside him; Sakura had begun walking towards the scene with a murderous expression on her face. Sasuke grabbed hold of her wrist before they noticed her.

Sakura turned to look at him in bewilderment, but Sasuke just shook his head.

Sakura pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded, but Sasuke could still see the tension on her shoulders. Naruto, however, was unusually quiet.

"Horrible," someone muttered from the crowd.

The boy with bandages glared at the crowd. "What did you say?" he hissed, and the atmosphere suddenly felt heavier. "Listen, this is our kindness. The Chuunin Exam isn't easy - even we have failed it three times. Those that take this exam and end up quitting as shinobi, those who die during this exam - we've seen it all."

The crowd murmured to each other, having heard the boy. Most had worried expressions on their faces - as if they weren't sure anymore if they really wanted to join.

Sasuke knew the peril of joining. He knew that there were shinobi, like Sabaku no Gaara, who were as strong as him - or probably stronger. But he had to take the exam if he had to kill Itachi.

Before he could stop it, he turned to glance at the pink-haired girl beside him. Sasuke hadn't even noticed that he still had his fingers around her wrist, but from the look on Sakura's face, it looked like she hadn't either.

The gnawing sensation of something being wrong was washing through him again.

"And the chuunin often become captains of military missions," the boy with bandages continued. "The failure of a mission, the death of a comrade - those are all the captain's responsibility. Do you still think you can pass?"

The girl sat up and crouched beside the green-clad boy, with a worried expression. Sasuke could see that the crowd was beginning to grow more and more worried as well.

"We are just thinning out those who will fail anyway. What's wrong with that?" the boy with bandages finished, smirking.

It was then Sasuke decided it was enough. He let go of Sakura's wrist and started walking towards the two ninja by the door and said, "I agree."

Startled, everybody turned to look at him.

"However," Sasuke continued. He could feel Naruto and Sakura trailing after him, "you will let us pass through... and remove the genjutsu surrounding the area. I want to get to the third floor."

Sasuke heard gasps from all around him.

"What is this guy talking about?!" he heard somebody say.

"I don't know," somebody else answered.

*Hn. So nobody else noticed it, then.

"Ah..." the boy with bandages smirked.

"So you noticed," his companion said, looking up at him.

"Sakura," Sasuke said slowly, liking the feeling of saying her name. "You must have noticed it first, right?"

"What?" Sakura blinked, surprised at being called.

"After all," Sasuke continued, "your analytical abilities and genjutsu know-how is the most advanced on our team."

Sakura looked at him in bewilderment for a moment, before she slowly smiled. And Sasuke, knowing how Sakura _really_ smiled took pride that this smile was real.

"Of course I did," Sakura said, in a much louder voice. "I noticed it a while ago. This is not the third floor - it's the second."

"Yup!" Naruto chidded beside her.

Surely enough, the genjutsu wore off as the crowd dispelled themselves from the illusion. Surely enough, the number "301" washed out and the number "201" appeared in its place.

"Hmm... not bad," the boy with bandages mused. "But all you did was see through it!"

His movement was fast, but Sasuke knew what to anticipate. The boy with bandages had assumed an attack position and was about to throw a kick at his direction. Sasuke readied himself to block with a kick of his own before a blur of green caught his eyes.

Suddenly, he felt a strong grip around his ankle and the world seemed to slow down. The person in between them looked up with a serious expression - it was the boy in the green suit! Only, his face didn't have bruises anymore. Had it been part of the genjutsu as well?

Sasuke glanced once at the girl the bandaged boy hit - her bruises were gone as well.

Sasuke blinked in surprise._ He stopped my kick with just his hands. Is it... chakra?_

The green-clad boy let go of his ankle and sighed.

"Hey," a new voice said. For a moment, Sasuke thought he was talking to him, but instead, the person was talking to the green-clad boy. "What happened to the plan? I thought you said we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves?"

The green-clad boy smiled sheepishly and and blushed. "Well..." he trailed off, his eyes looking at something behind him.

Sasuke felt himself stiffen.

Not something... some_one_.

"Oh no," his girl companion said, shaking her head.

The green-clad boy marched purposefully past him and towards...

Sasuke gritted his teeth - he was gonna kill him!

...Sakura.

"Hi," he said once he'd skidded to a stop. Sakura blinked at him, confused. "My name is Rock Lee. Yours is Sakura, am I correct?"

"Yeees...?" Sakura said.

Rock Lee grinned from ear to ear. "Let's go out together! I'll protect you until you die!"

Sasuke felt himself growl. What is this idiot -

"No way!" Naruto said, standing between Rock Lee and Sakura. "As if Sakura-chan's going to go out with you! You're lame!"

For the first time, Sasuke thanked Naruto's infatuation with Sakura.

Sakura, on the other hand, laughed nervously behind him.

"Hey you," someone called from behind him. "What's your name?"

Sasuke turned to his right ands saw the boy who had talked to Rock Lee earlier about not drawing attention to themselves. Sasuke raised his eyebrow, noticing the boy's eyes - they were pale lavender. Sasuke immediately knew what this guy's last name was.

_Hyuuga_.

Sasuke smirked. "When you want to know someone's name, you should give yours first," he said.

The Hyuuga boy's eyes narrowed only a fraction. "You're a rookie, right? How old are you?"

"I don't have to answer you," Sasuke said, turning and walking away.

Before the Hyuuga boy could talk to him any further, Sakura called out his and Naruto's names and dragged them both away from the crowd.

Sasuke felt himself relax, but his mind was still going through the events that just happened. It seemed that there were more powerful ninja involved in the Chuunin Exam than he thought.

As the crowd thinned, nobody noticed the boy with bandages and his companion disappear.

"Those are Kakashi's and Gai's prized pupils - I guess they passed this unofficial test," the boy with bandages said, smirking.

"Yeah," his companion said.

With a sign, they dropped their henge, revealing their real faces - they still both had the Konoha hitai-ate around their foreheads, only now they were wearing their chunnin vests.

"This exam is going to be fun." They snickered. "For us examiners, too."

* * *

"Hey, you with the dark hair!"

Team Seven stopped in their tracks and looked up at the source of the voice. Naruto recognized him instantly - it was the boy from before; the boy in the green spandex.

"I want to challenge you to a fight!" he said to Sasuke.

Naruto felt anger and annoyance bubble up his chest again - Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke! It was always Sasuke! Why did they always see Sasuke first?!

"A fight right now?" Sasuke asked, unperturbed.

"Yes," the boy answered. _Now, what did he say his name was? _Naruto scratched his head.

Rock Lee jumped from the second floor and landed with a thud. "My name is Rock Lee," the boy said.

A light bulb clicked on inside Naruto's head. _Rock Lee! Right!_

"When you want to learn a person's name, you introduce yourself first, right," Rock Lee asked, referring to what Sasuke had said to the pale-eyed boy earlier, "Uchiha Sasuke?"

Slowly, Sasuke smirked. "So you know my name," he said.

"I want to fight you," Rock Lee repeated, assuming a attacking stance. "I want to test my techniques against the offspring of a genius ninja clan."

A tense moment passed, and Naruto observed Sasuke quietly. His shoulder was tense, but his face was as emotionless as ever. After a while, Sasuke spoke. "I'm not interested," he said, already beginning to turn away.

"Sakura-san," Naruto heard Rock Lee mutter. Sasuke visibly froze.

"Uh... yes?" Sakura said, her left eye twitching.

Naruto couldn't help his snicker. He didn't blame her - this guy was _lame_! Who wore green spandex anyway?! And

"If I win, will you go out with me?" Rock Lee said in a sweet voice.

That did it. Suddenly, Sasuke was facing the green-clad boy again; his eyes were murderous. "Fine," Sasuke ammended. Despite his change in facial expression, his voice sounded the same. "But challenging me knowing the Uchiha name? Frankly, you're a fool." Sasuke's glare went as cold as ice. Naruto shuddered and silently thanked whoever it was governing everything that was happening on earth that the glare was not directed towards him this time. "You're about to learn what the name 'Uchiha' means, thick eyebrows."

"Please." Rock Lee smiled slowly, assuming an attacking stance again.

Naruto pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes at the green-clad boy. He didn't look like much, he thought. Probably one of those people who talked first before they talked. Surely he, himself, could take him on.

"Wait," Naruto said; Sasuke and Sakura both glanced at him. "I'll take care of thick eyebrows. Just give me five minutes."

"Who I wish to fight is not you," Rock Lee said, looking at him for the first time. "It is Uchiha Sasuke."

"Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke!" Naruto gritted his teeth. "Damn it! I'm sick of hearing about Sasuke!"

And then he charged.

What happened next was so fast that Naruto could not comprehend it fully. One moment he was running fist-first towards the green-clad boy, and the next he was falling to the ground. Naruto growled - he was not going to give up!

Naruto balanced on his two hands and directed a kick at his opponent's direction. Rock Lee spun and kicked Naruto square on the back.

When Naruto tried to recall how their fight ended later that day, he remembered rolling on the ground and hitting his head on the wall.

"I'll say this: you guys cannot defeat me. I am the strongest Konoha genin," were the last words Naruto heard from Rock Lee before he blacked out.

* * *

Sakura could not contain her surprise - she had to admit: she expected that Naruto would lose. After all, it had been Rock Lee who stopped Sasuke's kick with just his hand earlier, so he had to be strong. However, Sakura didn't expect that he'd beat Naruto in just less than a minute.

Sakura gulped and cast a sideways glance at the boy beside her. Was Sasuke seriously going to fight him?

Seeing Sasuke's smirk, Sakura found her answer.

"Sounds fun, I'll do it," he said. Sakura fought the urge to take him by the arm and run away.

She had to stall - she had to do _something_!

Sakura glanced at the clock - it read 3:35, only barely thirty minutes left before the deadline.

"Sasuke-kun, don't!" Sakura said. "We have only thirty minutes before the deadline."

But Sasuke didn't even bother to look at her before he attacked. "It doesn't matter; I'll be done in five minutes."

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screeched, stomping her right foot.

Sakura blinked. There it was again - Rock Lee had disappeared from where he was standing and was suddenly above Sasuke, coming fast with a powerful kick. Sasuke blocked, but the next moment, he was sprawled on the ground as if he hadn't done anything at all.

Sakura's eyes widened. What was going on? Sasuke had blocked that kick! How did Rock Lee slip his guard?

Slowly, Sasuke rose from the floor, wincing. Sakura had begun to step in between the fight to stop them before she saw a pair of red eyes.

Sakura froze. She had lived long enough with the Uchihas to know what that was.

_The Sharingan._

But how?! Sakura didn't even know that Sasuke had already awaken his!

_When did he...?_

Vaguely, Sakura remembered the events from their mission in wave - she had seen those same eyes in their teacher, Kakashi, when he fought Zabuza. Back then, he had copied all of Zabuza's moves. If Sasuke could see through Rock Lee's, then there really _was _a chance that he'd win the fight!

Hope bubbled up in her chest. _Go, Sasuke-kun! You can't_ _los -_

Sakura's train of thoughts stopped and she froze. Rock Lee had landed another kick on Sasuke, and again, he was to fast for Sasuke to avoid. But _how_? He had his sharingan activated now, didn't he?!

The kick was directed right below his chin, which sent Sasuke propelling up fast.

"Yes, my techniques are neither genjutsu or ninjutsu," Rock Lee said to Sasuke, as if answering an unspoken question. Rock Lee crouched to the ground and jumped, but his movements were too fast that he looked like a blur to Saukura's eyes.

"SASUKE!" she head Naruto cry from the other side of the hall. It seemed like he finally regained consciousness.

"Yes, my techniques are simple taijutsu, Sasuke-san," Rock Lee said. Suddenly, he was below Sasuke and was floating up in the air. "You may not believe it because it is so basic, but they say the sharingan has the ability to reveal all types of nin, gen and taijutsu."

Sakura couldn't believe it, the movements were so fast, but right now, it was like she was watching in slow motion.

"It is true that by reading ninjutsu or genjutsu you get an advantage, but taijutsu is different," Rock Lee continued.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke rasped.

"Even if you can read my movements with your eyes, your body does not have speed to react to my taijutsu," Rock Lee answered. "Basically, even if you can see it, if your body can't move, then it's useless."

It was then Sakura's eyes caught a movement - the bandages on Rock Lee's left hand were loosening. A feeling of sheer dread washed over her. What was he going to do?!

"Do you know this? There are two types of people in this world: the genius and the hardworking," Rock Lee carried on. "You with your sharingan is from the genius type, and I am simply a hardworking person who mastered taijutsu. You could say that my ultimate taijutsu is the worst match-up for your sharingan... and with my technique, I will prove that the hardworking surpasses the genius."

Sakura's eyes widened. The bandages were still loosening and Sasuke was still in a perilous position. Rock Lee balled his fist, he was about to strike -

...When a shuriken flew past her and pinned the end of his bandage against the wooden wall.

"That's -" Rock Lee gasped.

"That's enough, Lee!" Sakura immediately turned towards the voice. At the other end of the room was a... _tortoise? _Only, this was no ordinary tortoise - it had a Konoha hitai-ate tied around its neck... and it could talk!

_Could it be an animal summon?_

Rock Lee, spun in the air and gathered his loosened bandages. Sasuke, on the other hand, was still on his trajectory and was crashing towards the ground fast.

Sakura knew that she had to move.

Gathering chakra on the soles of her feet, she jumped as far as she could to cradle Sasuke's head before he fell.

"Are you alright, Sasuke-kun?!" Sakura said in alarm, just as Sasuke sat up from her lap.

_He's shaken - he didn't even protect himself from the fall!_

"So you were watching," she heard Lee say. He was kneeling on the floor, with his head bowed in shame. He was talking to the tortoise.

"Lee! That technique is forbidden!" the tortoise bellowed.

"I'm sorry... I was just -" Lee started, but cut himself off once he met the tortoise's deadly glare. "But... I wasn't planning on using the other one!" Lee stood on his feet, and continued arguing with the tortoise.

Sakura didn't know how to put things in perspective - one minute Rock Lee was fighting off Sasuke, and the next he was defending himself against a talking reptile!

"Hey!" Sakura turned her head and saw Naruto walking towards them. With a slight relief, she noticed that he didn't seem to bear any injuries. "That's," Naruto pointed at the tortoise, "a turtle... right?"

"It is," Sakura said slowly, not knowing how to answer an obvious question.

"How can a turtle become a ninja?!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sakura was just about to answer that she didn't know when the tortoise shouted again. "YOU FOOL!"

Lee closed his eyes and his shoulders tensed. "You think you can get away with an excuse like that?! You already know what it means for a shinobi to reveal his special techniques! Are you prepared to pay?"

"Yes," Lee answered meekly.

"Then here comes Gai-sensei!" the tortoise barked.

Sakura heard a loud poof and with the white spoke appeared a guy in... _green spandex_?

Sakura looked at the man, and then back at Lee, and then back at the man again.

_Are they...related?_

"You really are the epitome of youth, Rock Lee!" the _other _guy in green spandex said in a sickening voice that made Sakura want to rip her ears out.

Seeing that Sasuke and Naruto froze from either side of her, she knew that she wasn't the only one.

_Can't this day get any weirder!?_

"EEEWWWWW!" Naruto acked, not bothering to hide his disgust. "THAT GUY HAS EVEN THICKER EYEBROWS!"

"...Super thick," Sasuke corrected.

"...Super weird," Sakura added.

"Those eyebrows are incredible!" Naruto babbled on. "I've never seen that much hair before -"

"HEY! STOP INSULTING GAI-SENSEI!" Lee shouted.

Naruto, not the one to withdraw to anything, shouted back at him. "SHUT UP! ALL THESE FREAKS KEEP ON APPEARING! HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO REACT!"

"What are you -" Rock Lee started, but his sensei cut him off.

"Lee..."

Lee's eyes twinkled. "Yes, Gai-sensei?"

Gai smiled sweetly. "You," - He balled his fist... - "FOOL!" ...and punched Rock Lee square in the face.

Sakura's jaw dropped. _Wh-what...?_

Lee tried to sit up. "Gai-sensei..." he said in a melodramatic voice. Sakura squinted her eyes. Was that... _tears_? The pink-haired girl looked at Lee's sensei - he was crying as well. "Se-sensei... I..."

"That's enough, Lee!" Gai exclaimed, pulling his student to his chest. "You do not need to say it! This is what youth is all about!"

Rock Lee sniffed. "Gai-sensei!"

Gai sniffed as well. "Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-senseeeeei!"

"Leeeeeeeee!"

"I can't believe I lost to that guy," Sasuke muttered from beside her. Sakura, for once, had nothing to say to make him feel better.

"You know, that's some good stuff!" Naruto laughed, pointing at the scene before them.

Sakura's eye twitched. "NO WAY! IT'S DANGEROUS - TOO DANGEROUS!"

"Lee, it's alright - youth and mistakes go together," Gai carried on, not noticing team seven's squabble.

Lee sniffed again. "You are so nice, Sensei..."

"But you did start a fight and broke my rules," Gai continued. "Your punishment will start after the Chuunin Exam."

"Yes!" Lee said, giving a salute towards his sensei.

"Five hundred laps around the practice range!" Gai said enthusiastically.

"Yes!"

Sakura's left eye was still twitching. "...This is stupid."

"I really don understand why there's a turtle," Naruto said.

At that same moment, Gai turned to look at the three. Sakura felt like fainting.

_H-he's looking over here -_

"Hey you guys! How is Kakashi doing?" Gai asked.

"You know Kakashi?" Sasuke asked.

"Know him?" Gai snickered. Sakura watched...and then blinked...and then suddenly Gai wasn't beside Lee anymore.

_How -_

"People refer to us as 'eternal rivals'." Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto stiffened. The voice came from behind them! _But when - ?_

"When did he -" Naruto squawked.

"Fifty wins and forty-nine loses," Gai continued. "I'm stronger than Kakashi!"

"SEE?! GAI-SENSEI IS INCREDIBLE!" Lee quipped.

"Sorry about Lee," Gai said, looking at Sasuke, "but I swear to this face that it won't happen again. I swear to this beautiful face!"

Sakura blinked. Stronger than Kakashi? No, it couldn't be true!

"You guys should head over to the classroom," Gai said, throwing a kunai to his left; Sakura was thinking too hard about what he had said that she didn't bother to look where it went.

"Good luck, Lee! See you later!" said Gai before he vanished.

Sakura turned towards Lee who was tightening his bandage around his palm once again. "Sasuke-san, I'll say one more thing," he said. "The truth is, I came here to test my abilities. I lied before - I am not the strongest genin, but I know that he is on my team. I entered this to defeat him, and you are also one of my targets. Be prepared!" And then he vanished in a blur.

Sakura turned towards Sasuke, his fists were clenched and his stance was tense.

"Sasuke-kun..." she started.

"The Uchiha Clan isn't worth much these days!"

Sakura whirled towards her blonde teammate in surprise. "Naruto -!"

"Next time I'll beat him," Sasuke said in a low voice.

"Sure, but you still got your ass kicked." Naruto whistled. What was he doing?! Was he baiting Sasuke into another fight?!

"Did you see his hand?" Naruto said in a lower voice. "That thick eyebrowed fella must train really hard everyday - even more than you."

Sakura looked at Sasuke in concern. He had clenched his fists again, but Sasuke noticed that little by little, he was loosening it.

She heard Sasuke snicker. "This is getting fun, the Chuunin Exam," he said.

Sakura searched his face, there was no anger, no resentment - for the first time in weeks, Sasuke's expression seemed... relaxed. Determined, even.

Slowly, Sakura found herself smiling.

_The Chuunin Exam... Hmm..._

* * *

__Kakashi stood in front of room 301 with his hands shoved on each of his front pockets. He was aware of the clock ticking inside the room, and aware of the number of people inside of it - various chakra flared together as shinobi from all over the world gathered to take the Chuunin Exam.

It was five minutes before four o'clock and his team still haven't arrived yet. For a brief moment, Kakashi wondered if they really weren't coming - until he saw a flash of black, pink and orange appearing by the staircase.

Kakashi let out a sound of amusement.

"So," he said, once they were on hearing distance, "Sakura came as well. Now we can properly take the exam."

Sakura's green eyes blinked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"The truth is, this test can only be taken by teams of three," Kakashi answered.

"But you said taking the test was an individual choice," Sakura said carefully. "Does that mean you lied to us?"

"If I told you the truth, Naruto or Sasuke would have pressured you to take the exam," Kakashi explained. "Even if you didn't want to, you still would join because you'd feel guilty about Sasuke and Naruto not being able to join."

"So if only Sasuke-kun and Naruto showed up..." Sakura trailed off.

"Then the exam would end here and they would not get to go any further," Kakashi finished, smiling. "But you came on your own free will and I am proud of the three of you."

The silver-haired jounin stepped aside and tilted his head towards the door. "Now go."

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura nodded and walked towards the door.

_Let the Chuunin Exam..._

Kakashi smiled to himself.

_...begin._

* * *

**A/N: **This is an unedited chapter. Forgive the errors, I am too lazy to edit this chapter. Zzzz

Review! xx


	12. her pain

_My distance from the target is exactly four meters and the target is 1.72 meters from the ground. The wind speed is at 10 mph - therefore, by doing a jump of 0.7 meters from the ground and tilting my wrist 40 degrees backwards, I can exert a force that will send the kunai flying towards my target at 30 mph._

Sakura's mind worked like a well-oiled clock as she studied the formulas in her head, vaguely, she heard Itachi behind her, telling her that her posture was wrong and her footing was the other way around.

Sakura knew that, of course. Since she could walk, her parents had been teaching her how to handle weapons.

She felt the familiar weight of the kunai as she exhaled a long breath and sent her kunai flying towards her target. And with a 'thunk', her kunai landed on a red ring on the target board, hovering along the white border that surrounded the bull's eye.

"Alright!" Sakura cheered.

Itachi smiled kindly at her, but she could see that there was an expression of impatience in his eyes as he studied her. "Almost had it there," he said.

Sakura smiled at him.

No. Itachi was wrong.

Sakura hadn't _almost _had it.

The red ring _had_ been her target. Her kunai landed _exactly _where she wanted it to be. But of course, he didn't know that.

In the distance, she heard Sasuke grumble before he threw his kunai at his target and it landed on the bull's eye. Sakura hid her frown. It was the bull's eye, yes, but it was about a centimeter from the center. It hadn't been a precise throw - her father always said that a life could be taken by just knowing where _exactly _to aim. A miss of one or two centimeters could mean the failure of the whole mission.

The seven-year-old Sasuke then turned and met her eyes. When he caught her looking at him, he scowled. This time, Sakura didn't bother to hide her frown. It had been about a week since she had arrived at the Uchiha household and she didn't know why, but it seemed like Sasuke hated her. She had done everything she could for him to like her - she had pretended she didn't like tomatoes so that he could take her share; she had even muffled her abilities (something that peculiarly drawn people to her to be her friend when she was in Amegakure)! She didn't know what he found in her that was so... unlikable.

"Don't worry about him," Itachi said softly, patting Sakura's head. Sakura nodded mutely, but walked over the Sasuke instead. Peculiarly, he was poking the ground with a stick with so much force that the soil that had dried in the sun cracked beneath it.

"What are you doing, Sasuke-kun?" she asked, looking down at him and smiling as she did so.

Sasuke lifted his head and gave her the hardest glare he could muster. She saw his eyes dart away from her - towards where the direction his brother was standing - before he went back to poking the ground.

"It's none of your business," young Sasuke dismissed.

Sakura frowned. At least he replied, right? That meant she was getting somewhere. Well... _right?_

"What's that?" Sakura persisted.

"It's a stick," Sasuke answered in a tone that implied that he was talking to the stupidest person in the entirety of the Fire Country.

"What do you need a stick for?"

"I'm boring a hole into the ground."

"What are you creating a hole on the ground for?" she asked further, not giving up.

To Sasuke, however, it seemed like the last straw. He looked at her again and glared even harder. "Go away," he said bluntly. "You're annoying."

Before she could say anything else, Sasuke had already gotten up and had started walking away.

Sakura frowned as she looked at his retreating figure - she wanted nothing other than to make friends with him. She most certainly didn't want to be his enemy, so why did he treat her like she was?

She was about to follow inside when her senses picked up an alteration in the wind pattern. Sakura recognized it immediately - a kunai was flying towards her direction!

With her fast reflexes, she'd gotten away in time, hearing the sharp 'thud' of the kunai embedded on the bark of a tree behind her. In her peripheral vision, she saw Itachi standing and she turned immediately to warn him.

"Itachi-nii-sama -" she started but upon seeing his amused expression, she immediately shut herself up.

"I knew it," he said, walking towards her direction.

Sakura looked at him with fearful eyes. He was angry now - he was going to punish her! Sakura shut her eyes tight as he neared. She braced herself for a blow, but it never came. She then realized that Itachi had only walked towards her direction to retrieve his kunai from the tree.

"Although I won't question your decision to hide your abilities," Itachi started, stowing his kunai away, "I don't see how it makes much difference."

Sakura turned away from him, wringing her hands nervously. "I... I..." she stammered. Mentally, she reprimanded herself for being so nervous. Slowly, she drew a deep breath. "Back in Ame... when people find out that my parents are shinobi... they... avoid me..." she said slowly.

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Well, I don't see how that matters here in Konoha," he said contemplatively. "Here, the shinobi are considered heroes and are regarded with highest honor."

Sakura raised her head at him, awed by the new information.

"But regardless of that," he continued, already starting to turn away, "you should be proud of anything that defines who you are, whatever it may be."

* * *

**Chapter 12: The Forest of Death**

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto didn't think he'd seen trees as big as the trees past the barbed fence. It was surreal – he didn't think even ten people with hands linked together and arms opened wide would be able to fully wrap around the trunks on one of those gigantic trees.

But he didn't let the trees intimidate him.

After all, they were trees. And as much as he knew, trees couldn't kill anybody.

I'll punch one of those things and they'll crumble into pieces. Psh! Weak trees!

"This is creepy," he heard Sakura mutter from behind him.

Strangely enough, the examiner seemed to have heard her even though she was a good fifteen feet from the three.

The examiner scoffed, tilting her head backwards. Her dark hair was tied up in a spiky ponytail and she was wearing the strangest smirk on her face. "Soon you will find out why this place is called the Forest of Death," she said.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Soon you will find out why this is called the Forest of Death!" he mimicked, making funny faces at the spiky-haired woman. "You think that scares me?! That's nothing! I'm not afraid!"

After all, what was there to be afraid of? They had passed the First Exam easily! He even got away with it with no answers on his test paper! He was born to pass this exam! And then be a great ninja and then be the Hokage!

The woman smiled wider. "Yeah," she said in a sickly sweet voice. "You're spirited."

Naruto was just about to retort back at her when he felt a sharp pain on his left cheek. And then suddenly the examiner's voice - what was her name again? Mitarashi? Mitarashi Anko? – Suddenly came from behind him.

Something warm was trickling down his face - his own blood?

Uzumaki Naruto gulped.

"Kids like you are quickly killed," Anko continued, locking him in place. "Spraying the red blood that I love…"

"Here's," somebody else said, a slithering voice, cut Anko off, "your kunai."

Naruto fought the urge to glance, but couldn't. He wished he hadn't. Because somebody was passing the kunai back to Anko – with his tongue.

What… the… hell…

"Thank you," Anko said, taking her kunai from him. "But unless you want to be killed, you better not lurk behind me again."

"I'm sorry," the tongue-guy (Naruto couldn't decipher if it was a man or a woman) slurred. "But the sight of blood had me excited."

Naruto gulped.

Maybe he needed to be scared - even just a little - after all.

* * *

Five minutes into the Forest of Death, they heard a scream. Sakura suppressed a shudder - she knew that being a ninja meant being in pain, but the amount of anguish in that scream had her wondering if entering this exam was a good

First, the examiner had them sign wavers so that she wouldn't be responsible for deaths, and now, after a short while, someone was already dying.

"I'm getting kind of nervous," Sakura said softly, voicing her thoughts.

Beside her, Naruto stood straighter. "This is nothing, Sakura-chan! I'll protect you!" he said, thumping one of his fists against his chest as he grinned at her.

Sakura reluctantly smiled back before she looked around. It didn't look like there was anybody nearby - the best thing to do now was cover a lot of distance without getting attacked, formulate a plan on how to get the earth scroll (they had gotten Heaven - its counterpart) and camp the night at a safe place. From the map that Mitarashi Anko showed them earlier, whether you were east or west, the river always led to the tower that was in the middle of the forest. Once they found the river, all they had to do was follow it and they would find the tower. Finding food was a problem, though. Sakura knew many kinds of plants from her lessons at the Academy, but she found that there were still a lot that she didn't know - about half of the plants surrounding the three of them were still unfamiliar to her. Moreover, she doubted that they'd encounter no one once they _did _find the river. It was the only source of water inside the forest - everybody would inevitably have to go there if they didn't want to thirst their way out of the second exam. It was one of the reasons why they had chosen a gate relatively far from it.

The rustling of clothing nearby broke Sakura away from her thoughts. Naruto was standing in front of a bush, and she knew from his stance what he was planning to do.

"Hey, don't do that in front of a lady!" she retorted, hitting him once on the top of his head; Sasuke snorted in amusement.

Naruto 'ack'ed and grumbled before walking away, choosing a tree about five meters away from them. Once Naruto was out of sight, she noticed Sasuke's gaze on her face.

She blinked up at him. He really was kind of tall for his age. "What is it?" she asked.

Sasuke shrugged. "I should be the one asking you that question," he answered. "From the look on your face, it look like you're already thinking of a way out of this exam successfully."

Sakura frowned. Was she really that easy to read? "Actually, not yet," she said. "I was thinking of the map Mitarashi-san showed us - which the river always led to the tower. Because it does - and because it's a river - we're bound to encounter a lot of enemies on the way. Not to mention, we still have to find our scroll's counterpart." Sakura was suddenly conscious of the weight of the scroll inside her kunai pouch. She was careful enough not to voice out what type of scroll they possessed, lest an undetected enemy was lurking in the shadows.

"We're bound to fight anyway," Sasuke pointed out. "Why prolong the inevitable?"

Sakura looked at him like he was crazy. "I'm not _trying _to prolong the inevitable - I'm trying to minimize the risk of injury from an inevitable fight," she said.

Sasuke shrugged again, glancing at the rustling bushes nearby. It seemed like Naruto was done peeing.

"Man, so much came out! I feel so good now!" he said, rubbing the back of his head contentedly. Sakura was about to warn him not to try to piss in front of her again, when Sasuke suddenly punched Naruto hard on the stomach.

"Sasuke-kun! What are you - "Sakura was about to help Naruto up his feet when cold realization hit her - the person in front of her was _not _Naruto at all! How could she have not realized it sooner?

"What the hell are you doing?!" 'Naruto' yelled, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.

Sakura asked before Sasuke could, taking a kunai from her holster and assuming an offensive position. "Where's the real Naruto?"

"What are you both saying all of a sudden? Have you both gone crazy?" 'Naruto' said back. Sakura fought the urge to run towards him and punch him straight in the face, no matter how much she knew that was unwise. After all, this impostor's teammates could be hiding somewhere near them and were just waiting for their cue. However, she and Sasuke had just found out that he was _not _Naruto, so what was he doing still pretending he _was_? Maybe, as Sasuke said, he was 'prolonging the inevitable'.

"Your shuriken holster is at your left side; Naruto is right handed," Sasuke answered beside her, deciding to humor the impostor. "But what really blew you away is that you don't have the scratch on your left cheek - the one the examiner put on you. You are a fake loser who is worse than the dobe."

Slowly, a sadistic grin formed on 'Naruto's' face before he released the jutsu. Before them was a shinobi with brown hair clad in all white. Sakura recognized the headband immediately - _Ame_. However, the most peculiar part of this shinobi's costume is his mask. Sakura vaguely wondered if this was because his ninjutsu style was poison-oriented, since the use of poison was as common as the use of genjutsu at her former village.

"How unlucky - I got found out," the ninja said in a droning voice. "Let's cut the chase then: which one of you has the scroll?"

Sakura's jaw clenched; the scroll on her holster felt like it weighed a ton. Beside her, Sasuke prepared for attack.

"No one's answering? That's okay - I'll just get it by force, then!" And with that, the ninja sped towards the two of them.

Sasuke performed a series of seals too fast that Sakura didn't catch it all - but upon seeing the last seal, she immediately had an idea on what it was: tiger.

Sasuke jumped high, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake; Sakura jumped back as far as she could.

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"

Several balls of fire that vaguely looked like flowers descended towards the enemy ninja, but he dodged them easily. Sasuke cursed under his breath and followed. Sakura's mind calculated the speed that their enemy was picking - no, it wasn't for escape! The enemy was just looking for an opening.

"Sasuke-kun, watch out!" she exclaimed as a kunai was thrown towards him. Sasuke got away in time, hiding behind a particularly wide tree branch.

Sakura mentally cursed - she had to find the real Naruto. Remembering what direction Naruto went earlier, she ran, only to hear an explosion behind her.

_Damn - the kunai had an exploding tag. _She silently hoped Sasuke was alright.

"Sakura-chan!" a familiar voice broke away her train of thoughts. Sakura descended and landed beside the real Naruto who was tightly wrapped by a thick rope. She crouched and cut the rope in one swift motion with her kunai.

"You okay?" Sakura asked as Naruto wiggled out from his bindings.

"Fine, Sakura-chan," Naruto replied. "Go help that bastard -"

Naruto was cut off by another explosion. Sakura did not need to be asked twice.

Sakura cursed under her breath and ran to where Sasuke was only to find the enemy shinobi standing directly behind him.

"Move and I'll kill you," the ninja sneered. "Hand the scroll over!"

Sakura gritted her teeth - _like hell!_

"Sasuke-kun!" she called in warning while throwing a kunai at the enemy. Sasuke, hearing her voice, turned around just as the enemy jumped to dodge the kunai. Sasuke raised one foot and stopped the kunai from hitting the ground - Sakura realized he was using chakra to keep it in place. Above him, the enemy ninja was regaining his footing as he stood at a branch. Sakura was about to jump up to land a hit when a kunai was flung towards his direction. Sakura glanced at Sasuke and saw that he was still holding the kunai she had thrown earlier. That must mean it was -

"You won't get away," Naruto's voice echoed in her ear as he threw another kunai.

The Ame ninja managed to dodge them, but was too distracted to realize that Sasuke was now jumping towards him. It was too late when he moved to dodge the blow because Sasuke had successfully landed a kunai on the shinobi's left shoulder to incapacitate him.

Sakura found herself getting dizzy at the sight of blood on Sasuke even though it wasn't his. Sasuke stabbed the enemy deeper.

"Sakura! Naruto! Look if there are more of them nearby!" Sasuke said, glancing once at Sakura's direction. The pink-haired girl realized that he had his sharingan activated.

The enemy took this moment to dislodge himself from Sasuke's grip and escape. Landing on the ground, Sakura saw Sasuke grit his teeth.

Sakura's eyes studied him, looking for any sign of injury and, finding none, felt her legs wobble, the adrenaline ebbing away.

What did she say about covering distance without getting attacked again?

* * *

"If we get separated again," Sasuke began as Team 7 huddled together to regroup, "even if it's one of us, don't trust them. This could happen again."

Beside him, Naruto nodded eagerly, having experienced firsthand what it felt like to be replaced by an enemy nin. On his other side was Sakura - her stance was attentive and if anybody else looked at her face, they would assume she was listening, but Sasuke knew her well enough to know she wasn't. The faraway look in her green eyes said as much.

"Sakura," Sasuke called. Sakura stiffened slightly before looking at him. "What do you think of the ninja who attacked us?"

"I think he's a pain in the ass!" Naruto quipped. Sasuke cast him an annoyed glance.

"That wasn't what I was talking about, dobe," he said. "That ninja was from Ame."

Sakura nodded. "Yes, he was," she said. Her eyes were attentive now; whatever she had been thinking about before forgotten. "I think he uses poison-type attacks, judging from the mask he wears on his face. Although if he and his team mates thought it was okay to go on their separate ways, I think they are also able to use genjutsu."

Naruto snorted. "That shinobi was as dumb as a rock!" he said. "He couldn't even transform himself into me properly!"

Sasuke was inclined to agree.

"I bet they won't be as easily beaten if they worked as a team," Sakura said, her brows furrowing in thought.

"We'll make a codeword in case this happens again," Sasuke continued, looking at both of them to make sure they were listening - or at least, Sakura. "If any one of us gets the codeword is wrong, assume he is an enemy, no matter who he looks like."

Sakura and Naruto nodded and Sasuke closed his eyes and exhaled softly. The foreign chakra was still there - whoever it belonged to, the person was obviously listening, making no move to attack them. Sasuke had no choice but to continue on and pretend that he didn't know that the enemy was then.

"When you are asked about the codeword, remember the song 'Nin Machine'." Beside him, Sakura blinked in recognition. The song was constantly being played on the radio during the past week and he and Sakura had heard it enough over breakfast to memorize the lyrics. But it didn't matter if she knew the song or not - he and Sakura had established another codeword, even before the Chuunin Exam had begun. Naruto, however, furrowed his brows in confusion, obviously not knowing what he was talking about. Nonetheless, he said nothing. For this, Sasuke was thankful. For all their enemy knew, it would have been Naruto's favorite song. "Listen carefully; I'll only say this once."

_"A large amount of loud enemies is the friend of a shinobi; hide and remain silent," _Sasuke recited. _"A shinobi must understand the power of time, when the enemy is tired and ill-prepared."_

When he finished, Naruto looked at him like he was crazy. "That's too long!" he retorted. Sasuke glared at him to shut up and not give any indication that he didn't know anything, but Naruto took it as a glare of annoyance. "It's impossible to remember, teme -"

"I already memorized it, Naruto." Sasuke was never more thankful for Sakura's interjection. "And Sasuke-kun said he'd only say it once."

Turning his head towards Sakura, he met her eyes. She nodded once at him - good, she knew what he was trying to do. If an enemy approached them in the form of Naruto, all Naruto had to say was...

"I'll hold the scroll," he told her. Sakura nodded as she took the scroll from her kunai holster and gave it to him.

Sasuke had just began to stand up when Naruto muttered an 'ouch' from his direction. Blood trickled down his right cheek and Sasuke looked down to find what had caused it. On the ground, its one side glazed in Naruto's blood was... a leaf?

"What -" Naruto began, but was not able to finish because a strong gust of wind was aimed at their direction.

Sasuke knew enough that this was no natural occurrence.

"Hide!" Sasuke barked before he teleported under a nearby bush.

Sasuke waited until the gush of wind stopped. He heard the leaves on the ground cracking behind him and he stood up in alarm.

"It's me, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, holding up her hands.

"Stop where you are," Sasuke warned holding up a kunai. "What's the code word?"

Sakura took a deep breath before answering, "_The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it."_

After she spoke, Sasuke relaxed. This was the real Sakura alright - if it was anybody else, he or she would have recited the codeword he had said a while ago. This codeword - the quote that Sakura spoke - was one that they had come up with many years ago when Fugaku joined them for training.

_"When you are on a mission, there are times when you will get separated from your teammates," _Fugaku had told them then after commenting about their forms. _"When that happens, you must always have a code to confirm that who you're with is not an enemy."_

Seeing that Sasuke had let his weapon down, Sakura relaxed as well. "I was beginning to think that you were really going to attack me," Sakura said, sighing in relief.

"If I did, then it'd be safe to assume that _I'm_ the enemy," Sasuke replied, still holding his kunai in his hands, in case whoever it was who attacked them decided to show up. Sasuke heard the rustling of leaves again before Naruto walked over them asking them if they were alright. Sasuke studied his teammate carefully - the scratches on both his cheeks were there and his shuriken holster was on his right side. Naruto looked like Naruto - but there was only one way to find out if that were true.

"Naruto, wait a second! What's the codeword?" Sakura said from behind him.

"Don't worry! I know it." Naruto grinned. _"A large amount of loud enemies is the friend of a shinobi; hide and remain silent. A shinobi must understand the power of time, when the enemy is tired and ill-prepared."_

Sasuke smirked; beside him Sakura stiffened. He knew that she had realized the same thing that he did - this wasn't the real Naruto, not at all.

With a swift motion, Sasuke threw the kunai he was holding at 'Naruto's' direction with all his might. 'Naruto' exclaimed and dodged it at the last second.

"So this time it's someone good enough to dodge my attacks," Sasuke mused. Sakura took out a kunai from her holster, seeming to have recovered from her initial shock.

'Naruto' grinned darkly - an expression that the real Naruto would never make. "It's impressive that you knew." The impostor dropped the henge and Sasuke recognized the person immediately - it was the one from earlier; the shinobi who had handed Mitarashi Anko her kunai back. "How did you find out?"

"I knew you were listening to our conversation from underground," Sasuke explained. Sakura glanced at him once with an expression of bewilderment - it seemed like she didn't know why he _really _established the codeword after all. "That's why I made a codeword like that."

"It if was Naruto," Sakura added. "He would have said that he didn't know what it was."

Sasuke looked at the enemy's headband as he (or she - Sasuke wasn't really sure) chuckled in amusement. This one was Kumogakure.

"I was wondering why you quoted Thucydides earlier," the Kumo ninja said, glancing at Sakura's direction. "It seemed that I was wrong in underestimating you."

Sakura said nothing. Instead, she looked back at the enemy with a determined look on her face. He knew that she was wondering what this ninja had done to the real Naruto.

"You want my earth scroll, right?" the ninja said, taking out an earth scroll from his (her?) robes. "Since you kids have the heaven scroll..." the ninja trailed off, taking out his long tongue and wrapping it around the scroll. Slowly, he carried the scroll towards his mouth with his tongue - and _swallowed _it.

_What the -_

"Now, let's begin..." the ninja continued, "the battle for each other's scroll with our lives on the line."

The Kumo nin raised his hand to his face and Sasuke's eyes followed it - until he met his eyes.

And then Sasuke didn't know what happened.

Suddenly, he felt like his skin was being peeled off - the all-too familiar stench of blood filled the air and Sasuke vaguely registered that the blood he smelled was _his._ His eyes felt like it was burning and his bones felt like it was being broken over and over again. He wanted to scream, but as he opened his mouth, more blood came out and he found himself choking, _gasping for air, begging for mercy_ - and then he saw a kunai being flung towards his direction. It was too late. He couldn't move, he couldn't scream, he couldn't even _breathe_. The kunai landed in between his eyes.

And then...

Sasuke sunk to the ground.

_…he was dead._

Uchiha Sasuke blinked.

Except that he wasn't.

Sasuke drifted in and out of his consciousness as he caught his breath. It took him a moment to realize that his skin wasn't being peeled off, his bones were not breaking and there was no kunai in between his eyes - it was a _genjutsu._

Yet it felt real - _too real -_ and he wanted nothing but to close his eyes and wake up from this nightmare.

_"…you will witness me murdering everyone from the Uchiha Clan again and again and again -"_

Bile rose from his throat as memories that he had buried deep inside of him played on and on in his head.

_"Run,"_ his brother's voice echoed in his ears, _"Run - live life in the most despicable way -"_

_STOP! _he screamed in his head_. This is just fear! It's nothing - it's genjutsu its - _

_"...live life in the most despicable way -"_

A whimper broke him away from the havoc inside his head. Someone - someone was beside him - _Sakura!_

It took every ounce of his strength to turn his head towards her. She was shaking - just like he was - and she was crying. Fear was written all over her face as her tears continued to flow.

_This is bad, _Sasuke thought._ We must run! Otherwise we will -_

"You can no longer move," the ninja said, like he could read Sasuke's thoughts.

Sasuke tried to move his limbs but he couldn't - his whole body felt numb. What had he done to them?!

Beside him, Sakura still knelt, unmoving, her eyes were clouded only with fear, and Sasuke realized that she must still be inside the enemy's genjutsu.

_Move!_

Slowly, he moved his fingers towards his kunai holster. The kunai felt heavy in his hand and he tightened his shaking hand around it.

_Move!_

The Kumo nin took two kunai from his robe. Sasuke knew what he was going to do - he was going to throw it at them when they were both vulnerable - and they would be dead.

_Move!_

Sasuke raised his hand; their enemy raised his.

_MOVE!_

* * *

Naruto's head throbbed where it had been hit. He vaguely remembered being thrown over by a powerful force and his vision spun around him. Naruto felt like he was upside down...

…which he _was_, he realized.

"Where's Sakura-chan and that bastard?" he muttered under his breath.

From nearby, he could hear something moving. Recovering from his nausea, Naruto stood up, only to come face to face with a giant snake.

"Wha - what is -" Naruto stammered as the snake slithered closer. Its body was as thick as the trunks inside the forest. Naruto gaped, not really knowing what to do.

_I've never seen a snake so... so... _big_!_

Naruto stepped backwards as the snake advanced as his mind worked on how to defeat it. The snake opened its mouth, revealing its sharp fangs, Naruto was about to run when something wrapped around his body. At first he thought it was another gigantic snake, but he then realized it was its tail.

Using all the strength he had, he tried to wiggle free from it, but to no avail. Naruto could only gasp as the snake swallowed him whole.

The sensation of being squished and falling down at the same time was unnerving.

"LET ME OUT! DAMN YOU!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs - not that the snake could understand him.

But maybe he did.

_"_DAMN YOU! SPIT ME OUT!"

Whatever, he decided. He was going to do whatever it took to get out of this gigantic snake's stomach.

Naruto tried to move his arms and legs, but it was too tight to punch his way out.

_Damn it! _he thought. _At this rate I'm going to be digested._

He thought of ways to make the snake throw up - the only way to make him sick was to make him eat more than his body could contain. Naruto sighed, he doubted that the next moment the snake had another meal, he would still be alive.

An imaginary light bulb lit inside his head.

That was it! He just had to make so much of him that the giant snake would throw up!

Wiggling his arms from his sides, he formed a seal, and with the loudest voice he could muster, he yelled: "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

* * *

Sasuke inhaled and exhaled through his nose deeply as he pulled the kunai from his thigh. It was only a theory - that the pain would dull the fear enough for them to escape - but it worked.

In front of him, Sakura was panting hard, seeming to have escaped from the genjutsu cast by the Kumo nin. Any initial trauma or fear was completely washed out the moment her eyes saw Sasuke's injury.

"Sasuke-kun are you alri -" Sasuke clamped a hand on her mouth to shut her off. She was being so loud - the Kumo nin was still out there. He doubted they could keep quiet long enough to remain undiscovered. He felt Sakura taking his hand off her face.

"SASUKE-KUN, A SNAKE!" she yelled as Sasuke snapped out of his thoughts. They jumped and dodged the initial attack.

Sasuke panted as he saw what attacked them - Sasuke was right. It _was _a snake, but it was a thousand times bigger than a regular one. That was impossible - how could snake this big exist inside this forest?!

Sasuke mentally cursed. _Unless it's an animal summon._

_He found us!_

Sasuke's body fell rigid as he remembered the genjutsu from before. His breathing grew faster.

"GET AWAY!" he yelled as the snake as he threw a handful of shuriken at its open mouth. The snake bled and fell. Sasuke was about to yell at Sakura to get out of here when a movement from inside the snake caught his attention.

Sasuke's sharingan eyes - he hadn't even noticed that he had activated it - widened. It was the Kumo nin! And it was coming from inside the snake!

"You guys shouldn't relax even for a moment," the Kumo nin slithered. "Prey should always be trying their best to run away."

As the shinobi's whole body emerged from the snake, Sasuke realized that the Kumo nin had somehow transformed its body - instead of feet, he had a tail; a snake's tail. This guy had transformed himself into a snake!

Sasuke was frozen on his spot. His mind screamed for him to move from where he was standing at the branch of a tree, but his body wouldn't listen.

At the distance, Sasuke could hear Sakura call out his name, but he knew it was too late. It was impossible - he couldn't escape. He would die.

Just when he had began to close his eyes to face his death; a barrage of shuriken was thrown in front of the Kumo nin. The ninja stopped, looking at where it had come from.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," a familiar voice said - Naruto! "I can't remember the codeword!"

"Naruto!" Sakura called out in relief. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, "I know you think you're trying to save us - but forget it! Run away! This one is on a whole other level!"

Below him, the Kumo nin chuckled. "It seems like you've successfully defeated that giant snake, _Naruto-kun_."

Naruto cast him a disgusted glare.

Sasuke mentally cursed. It was no use - whether Naruto was here or not, they were all going to lose. What was he going to do?

"Why don't you pick someone your own size, hmm?!" Naruto yelled at him.

Sasuke's mind panicked. This was bad - angering the enemy would only allow things to get worse! He knew what he had to do.

Extinguishing his sharingan, Sasuke reached for his kunai holster and took out the scroll. "I will give you the scroll!" Sasuke called out to the Kumo nin, ignoring Sakura and Naruto's bewildered looks. "Just take it and leave us!"

"Sasuke! What the hell are you talking about!" Naruto exclaimed. "Why would you give the scroll to the enemy!"

"I see," the Kumo nin said, ignoring Naruto's loud retorts. "Very smart - the only way to escape predator is to give the predator a different meal."

"Take it!" Sasuke said, throwing the scroll towards the enemy.

...But before it could reach him, an orange blur passed and caught it in his hands. Naruto landed behind him.

"You idiot! What are you doing?!" Sasuke began, turning around. "Don't you understand the situation?!"

Naruto turned towards him with a furious expression and punched him hard on the face.

Sasuke jumped back and glared at him murderously. "What are you doing?!"

"You're not Sasuke," Naruto said through gritted teeth. "I forgot the code word so I can't prove it - but _you're not Sasuke!"_

"You idiot!" Sasuke seethed. "I'm the real Sasuke!"

"YOU LIAR!" Naruto shouted, clenching his fists at his sides. "There's no way a coward like you is the Sasuke I know!"

Sasuke froze, for once not knowing what to say.

_A... a coward?_

"I don't know how strong this guy is," Naruto continued, "but how can you be so sure that he'll let us go once we give him the scroll? You don't know what you're doing because you're _too freaked out to understand the situation!"_

Sasuke stared wide-eyed at his teammate. No - he was wrong. He was not a coward! He was not -

The Kumo nin chucked near the two of them. "Naruto-kun," he said sweetly. "You are correct."

Sasuke glanced at him, seeing the plain malice on his face as he lifted his sleeve up, revealing a seal. Sasuke's eyes widened - the seal was a snake. He was going to do a summoning jutsu!

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled as he ran towards the enemy.

"Naruto, stop!" Sasuke began, but Naruto made no indication of stopping or slowing down. The next moment, another snake - one bigger than the one before appeared beneath the ninja. The chakra around the summon was overwhelming - Naruto stumbled backwards in surprise. The snake attacked, but it was too late. Naruto was tossed over by the snake with so much force that the branches he collided with broke in two.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke and Sakura called out in unison.

It was too late - that kind of force would have broken his bones and kill him. Naruto would die!

"Go ahead and eat him," the Kumo nin commanded, pertaining to the still free-falling Naruto.

And then - Sasuke didn't know how - Naruto opened his eyes.

"LIKE -" Naruto raised his foot... "-HELL YOU ARE!" ...and kicked the snake right on the head with a force he didn't know he was capable of.

The giant snake followed through, tossing Naruto away again. Sasuke froze in surprise. How could he have survived that?! It was impossible!

Slowly, the Kumo nin turned to face him with a dark glint in his eyes. "Now Sasuke-kun," He licked his lips, "it's your turn."

The snake turned its head at Sasuke and lunged. Sakura called out his name at the distance, but he was too surprised to do anything. The snake advanced on him and he braced for the impact... but it didn't come.

...Because suddenly Naruto was in between the snake and himself, stopping the snake with his body.

"Are..." Naruto wheezed, "you alright..." He raised his head, his right eye was swollen and there was blood trailing down her chin. But that wasn't what caught his attention. It was his eyes - they were _red_. "...scaredy-cat?"

Sasuke stared at him. Naruto... had just saved his life.

_"There is no way that a coward like you is the Sasuke I know!" _Naruto's voice echoed inside his head.

Before he could do anything - _say _anything - the Kumo nin lifted Naruto off from where he was standing with his tongue. He was saying something to him, but he was too disoriented to comprehend what it was. What he remembered, though, was that the Kumo nin hit Naruto on the stomach and Naruto was sent flying with a scream.

Sasuke's eyes widened. Naruto was falling - he was falling too fast that it was impossible to catch him.

"Naruto!" Sasuke heard Sakura's voice from a nearby branch. Quickly, she threw a kunai towards Naruto's direction. It landed on the tree bark with a thunk; hanging from it was Naruto. Sakura had successfully lodged her kunai in between his clothing.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted, her voice shrill with an underlying emotion - anger? He didn't know. Sasuke wouldn't blame her. After all, as Naruto said, he was a coward. "SASUKE-KUN WAKE THE HELL UP! I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO FIGHT ITACHI-NII-SAMA?! I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO RESTORE THE UCHIHA CLAN TO ITS FORMER GLORY?! WELL, _YOU CAN'T DO THAT IF YOU'RE DEAD, SASUKE-KUN SO WAKE UP!"_

Sasuke's eyes widened.

_"Foolish brother... if you want to kill me, hate me! Despise me! Run - run and survive in the most despicable way!"_

Slowly, he closed his eyes.

_"Run and survive in the most despicable way!"_

_No._

_"Run and survive -"_

_No._

_"...survive -"_

_I will not die here!_

And when he opened his eyes again the blazing red of his sharingan mirrored his newfound courage.

* * *

Sakura felt like a bucket of cold water was poured on her as she saw Sasuke activate his sharingan, although she knew that she shouldn't feel relieved yet. At least the awakening of his sharingan signaled that Sasuke was finished with his death wish.

Sakura gritted her teeth, willing her legs to move. She didn't know what kind of genjutsu was put on her, but its aftermath was paralysis. Her adrenaline had willed her body to move when the snake attacked her and Sasuke, but now whatever brought her body to work again was gone.

Sakura grumbled, forcing chakra into her legs.

_Move!_

Still feeling nothing, she concentrated harder.

_Move you useless piece of muscle!_

She only half-watched as Sasuke ignited the Kumo ninja's face with his katon. The ninja stumbled back. Sakura expected her to collapse, but she didn't - from what it looked like, her face was... _shredding?!_

_What kind of being is this ninja?! Is she even a person?!_

"To be able to the sharingan so well at this age..." the Kumo nin began. To Sakura's ears, it sounded like her voice was changing as the skin on her face peeled off. "You truly are an Uchiha."

Sakura didn't know if she was to be disgusted at what she was seeing - the skin on her face was now half-melted, but beneath it was another skin, pale as moonlight. And her left eye - which was formerly mud-brown - was now golden. Sakura didn't like the looks of this.

At that moment, the numbness went out from her legs and she knew she was able to stand again. Gathering chakra on her feet, she jumped and landed next to Sasuke.

"I had fun testing your powers," the Kumo nin's voice was different now - it didn't sound like the voice of a woman at all. So he was a man? Who was this guy?! The shinobi drew his hand up towards his forehead protector and cupped it. Sakura heard a fizz before a sensation of being locked into place entered her body.

She tried to move her hands, her thighs, her head - _anything_ - but she couldn't. She was paralyzed.

_Not again!_ Sakura grumbled to herself. Beside her, Sasuke didn't seem to be able to move as well.

"You really are brothers," the Kumo nin continued. "I can sense that the power in your eyes surpasses Itachi's."

He withdrew his hand from his hitai ate, and instead of the zigzagging lines that symbolized Kumogakure, an eighth note emerged.

_Oto?! But how?!_

Sakura would have frozen if she wasn't already. What did this man know about Itachi? And how did his forehead protector suddenly change to Oto's?

Sasuke jerked his body upwards, but was stopped midway. It seemed like the shinobi strengthened his hold on Sasuke. Sakura silently envied him for this strong will. "Who the hell are you?!" he asked, fury evident in his voice.

"My name is Orochimaru," he answered. "If you want to see me again, then you'll have to survive and pass the exam."

Sakura saw Orochimaru take something from his mouth - she recognized it immediately. It was the earth scroll... and it was on fire!

"The scroll!" Sakura exclaimed, finding her voice.

"Of course, to pass, you'd have to defeat the sound trio that is on their way," Orochimaru continued, ignoring Sakura completely.

The sound trio... Sakura recognized them! They were the ones who attacked Kabuto-senpai before the first test!

"What are you talking about wanting to see you again?" Sakura spat. "Like we'd ever!"

"Ah, I'm afraid it wouldn't be that simple," Orochimaru chuckled, pressing his palms together to form a seal she wasn't familiar with. Suddenly, his head sped up towards them - somehow, he'd made his neck elastic. Why wasn't Sakura surprised?

It was too late before she realized what Orochimaru's head was aiming for, because suddenly, his teeth were into Sasuke's neck. Sasuke, just as paralyzed as she was, could do nothing to avoid it.

"Sasuke-kun will seek me," Orochimaru said, putting his head back. "He will seek me to seek power."

Sasuke crouched down and screamed, clutching the side of his neck where Orochimaru had bit him. It was then she realized that whatever it was keeping them stationary was gone.

She glared at Orochimaru's direction taking a kunai from her holster. "What did you do to him?!" she shouted.

Orochimaru smiled at her - it was the kind of smile that made you want to kill somebody. "I gave him a going away present," Orochimaru answered.

"Like hell you did!" Sakura spat, throwing her kunai at him, but he'd already disappeared.

Beside her, Sasuke screamed again. "Sasuke-kun!" she exclaimed, but he didn't hear her.

He screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

And Sakura wanted nothing more other than to take away the pain from him and make it her own.

* * *

**A/N: **If you probably noticed, in Sasuke's narration disguised!Orochimaru is referred to as "him", while in the first part of Sakura's narration, disguised!Orochimaru is referred to as "her". This is because Sasuke (who was confused at first to whether disguised!Orochimaru was a man or a woman) decided that disguised!Orochimaru was a guy, while Sakura decided otherwise. I, myself, was a little bit confused once I was re-watching the episodes.

Anyhow, as many of you requested, I have given Sakura a role during the fight scenes, however, there is only so much I can give her. I plan to give her the strength that a true kunoichi should possess in the later chapters when she realizes why she wants to be a ninja in the first place. Because, as you may have figured out, she only started as a ninja because her parents were ninja. I also wanted to emphasize the reason behind Sakura's wide forehead - she's smart like hell. Anyone who doesn't agree can just eat chilli sauce or something.

Also, Sasuke and Sakura's codeword (sentence, whatever) is quoted from Thucydides, an ancient Greek historian and author who lived 460-404 BC. Kind of ironic that their codeword (sentence) is about bravery, when Sasuke struggled with his in this chapter.

WOW that was a lot. I don't usually have a lot to say. So, uh, thanks for waiting! Love you all! Reviews make this author happy. (kisses)


	13. her strength

"Hey, guess what? I heard Sasuke-kun liked girls with long hair."

Sakura stiffened visibly, hearing Sasuke's name. Sasuke liked girls with long hair? He certainly hadn't told her that!

A vision of a lady with long dark hair smiling down at her crossed her thoughts; Sakura felt her heart clench in sadness.

She supposed it was true - Mikoto-sama had long shining hair. It was only natural that he'd like girls with long hair as well. Not realizing she did, Sakura reached out for the tips of her pastel pink hair - it barely grazed her shoulder. It was not long, or shiny, or lustrous - it barely scratched the surface of Mikoto's dark, perfect hair.

"Hey, Sakura!" Sakura abruptly broke away from her thoughts - it was Ino who had spoken.

She turned and smiled at her, "Yeah?"

"Is it true?" Ino prodded; the two girls behind her, Azuna and Ayame tilted their heads towards their direction, eager for information. "That Sasuke-kun likes girls with long hair?"

"Yes, I think so," Sakura answered truthfully. Ino, Azuna and Ayame squealed before resuming their conversation. Sakura, rather than joining them, tuned them out lost in thought.

Later that night when she arrived home, most of the lights were already out. Sasuke had gone to bed early, she realized. He must have trained to the point of exhaustion yet again.

Inwardly, she sighed and padded quietly upstairs. She was about to open the door to her own room when she heard soft whimpers. Sakura froze. She already knew what was happening.

Slowly, she opened the door to Sasuke's room and walked towards his sleeping form. His fingers and his brows were furrowed together; an anguished expression crossed his normally composed features. Sakura took his hand in both of hers and squeezed it gently. Sasuke relaxed for a bit, but it was clear that he was still suffering from his nightmare. She pressed her right hand against his cheek, noting it was wet from sweat. Reaching for her pocket, she took out a handkerchief and wiped his face dry.

Sasuke opened his eyes slightly. Realizing Sakura was there, he started to breathe evenly and after a few moments, succumbed into a peaceful slumber.

"Don't worry, Sasuke-kun," she whispered to him, even though she knew he couldn't hear her. "I'll protect you.

Unconsciously, she reached out for her hair again, just like she did earlier that day.

"Whatever happens," she continued, "I'll never leave you."

The memory of the Uchiha Massacre plagued her mind; the whispers of her promise to him that night echoed in her ears.

_I will never, ever leave you._

She fisted a handful of her hair, shutting her eyes tight.

_I promise._

It was that night she decided that she would never, ever cut her hair again to withhold the memory of the fallen Uchiha matriarch in her heart as a reminder that whatever happened she'd always be at Sasuke's side.

_I will never leave you._

_...I promise._

* * *

**Chapter 13: Across the Distance**

* * *

She hugged her legs tighter against her chest hoping that by doing so, she'd disappear into thin air.

On both sides of her, each of her teammates sat, doing - and probably hoping - the same thing.

"Come out from there," a voice commanded from behind the bushes where they were hiding (and failing).

Yamanaka Ino silently cursed.

_Operation "Hide and Hope to Not Get Discovered" has failed! _she thought, frantically gesturing to both Chouji and Shikamaru. _We will now switch to Operation Number Two!_

She didn't wait for their nods of approval before she sprung up and faced their unexpected visitor with a warm smile on her face.

Ino stood, with one hand behind her head and the other on her waist, angling her body in such a way that would complement her curves.

"Oh my!" Ino squealed in her best 'fan girl-mode' voice. "I never thought I'd get to meet last year's number one rookie, Hyuuga Neji-sama! Can I get your autograph?"

The Hyuuga prodigy narrowed his light, pupil less eyes at the three of them. "It's you guys," he said, recognizing them, but not recognizing them at the same time. (She doubted that if she asked - which she wouldn't _dare _- he wouldn't be able to tell them what their respective names were. For him, they were 'one of those rookie teams who entered the exam'.) Ino didn't know if she should be relieved or insulted.

_That's it!_

Ino reached for the tie holding up her hair and let it lose, winking flirtatiously at the pale-eyed boy. "I've always wanted to know you better," she said in a honey-sweet tone.

...Only to have Neji turn on his back and walk away from her.

_What! That didn't work?! _Ino glowered at Neji's direction, shaking her fist at him. _Why doesn't my sexiness work?!_

Shikamaru just rolled his eyes at her.

"Hey," Neji called, without looking back at the three of them. "Does your shaking your fist at me mean that you want to fight me?"

Ino immediately stiffened. _How the hell did he see that?! Does he have three sixty vision?!_

"N-no! Definitely not -"

"Then leave!" Neji interrupted in a loud, booming voice. "Taking the scroll of cowards like you will only make me the laughing stock of the village."

Team Ten didn't need to be told twice.

The moment Hyuuga Neji turned his head towards where they had been, they were already gone.

_They're like cockroaches..._ the Hyuuga prodigy thought, putting his hands in his pockets and walking away.

"Why can't we find any weak-looking guys!" Ino said in frustration - they had been inside the Forest of Death for a day now, and so far their 'get-out-of-the-way-of-strong-looking-guys-and-bea t-the-shit-out-of-weak-guys' wasn't actually working - there weren't any weak guys to beat the shit out of.

"I told you," Shikamaru drawled beside her. "The only guys who are weaker than us would be Naruto's team."

"You idiot! What are you saying?!" Ino reprimanded; Shikamaru's comment hadn't improved her irritated mood (not that he was trying to, anyway) - he had insulted Naruto's team so he had insulted Sasuke! And when things involved Sasuke being insulted, she wasn't very forgiving. "Naruto and Sakura may be losers, but they have Sasuke-kun on their team!"

"You don't know that." Shikamaru shrugged; unperturbed by her angry aura. "Geniuses can quickly crumble under the pressure of the real world."

Ino shut him up with a death glare.

"Okay, okay!" Shikamaru said, sighing. "I'm sorry I upset you."

Ino harrumphed and crossed her arms at her chest. "Sasuke would never lose!" she told him. "Sakura, however is a different story -"

"Hey, guys!" Chouji interrupted, talking for the first time since their encounter with the Hyuuga. Ino was just about ready to punch him for interrupting her, when his next words caught her full attention. "Sasuke is knocked-out cold."

Ino and Shikamaru immediately turned towards their teammate - Chouji was pointing at a clearing nearby, and Ino could just make out the figures of seven people. Two were unconscious, and the other two were fighting a team of three.

Ino couldn't believe her eyes - Sakura was the one of the two people fighting.

"Sakura's fighting," Chouji pointed out, voicing out Ino's realization.

_No way._

* * *

Rock Lee loosened the bandages around his arms. Sakura had seen him begin to do this before; it was when he was fighting with Sasuke.

The pink-haired girl inwardly cursed - Orochimaru had told them that the sound trio would come and fight Sasuke, but she didn't think it would be this soon. Sasuke was still unconscious - his body felt so much pain from Orochimaru's bite that he'd fainted. On top of that, his body temperature was quickly rising. Naruto hadn't awoken as well. She had carried them and brought them down right after Orochimaru had disappeared, guarding them through the night, but their conditions didn't seem to be improving.

On top of that, she didn't know what to think of Naruto's condition. He had fallen several kilometers down and his body had been hit repeatedly, but there were no signs of broken bones or serious bruises on his back. And, remembering the events from the day before, Naruto had stopped a giant snake using only his sheer strength. She certainly hadn't seen this kind of power from her blonde teammate before. There was that one time during their mission in Wave, but it wasn't something as major as this.

It was almost like... almost like he had taken over a different persona while fighting Orochimaru.

Well, _had_ he?

Lee crouched down as the sound ninja attacked and with astonishing speed high-kicked him in the face. The sound ninja was thrown high up in the air, and Lee jumped up and re-appeared behind him. Bandages surrounded the ninja's body like a whirlwind until he was fully tied up, unable to move. Lee circled his arms around him and with great force pummeled the ninja and himself to the ground.

Sakura was about to let out a sigh of relief when she heard a sound from the other side of the field.

"Dosu!" It was the sound nin's other teammate - the one who had the scroll.

Sakura saw Dosu's teammate form a seal before pressing his palms against the ground. The ground puffed beneath his fingers and it continued on to the place where Dosu fell.

"Lee, watch out!" she yelled. She then saw a green blur backing away from the site. The surrounding area clouded in dust and Sakura squinted to see if Rock Lee had succeeded.

Very slowly, Dosu appeared from the cloud of dust, looking relatively unharmed.

Sakura tightened her grip around her kunai - Lee had failed.

"What a terrifying technique - even after landing on this sponge of dirt," Dosu said, shaking his head at the bewildered-looking Lee. "Now it's my turn."

Dosu lifted up his sleeves and Sakura saw the weird-looking contraption on his arm that had stopped trap she had set earlier.

"Even if you move fast," Dosu began, dashed towards Lee, "the speed of sound is faster!"

Lee got out of the way in time, but after a moment, he crouched to the ground with a cry of pain. "I'll show you a wall with no amount of hard work can pass through!"

Sakura looked up at Dosu with surprise. _How did he do that?! He hadn't even landed a finger on him!_

Vaguely, she remembered the instance before the first exam - when Kabuto-senpai's glasses broke into shards even when he'd dodged Dosu's blow.

Lee coughed violently beneath Dosu; Sakura, stood unto her feet, and began to move towards him.

"Stop, Sakura-san!" Lee said, still coughing. "You have to stay where you are and protect Sasuke-san!"

Sakura stopped at her tracks - Lee was right. She glanced at Naruto and Sasuke's bodies, then back to the green-clad boy. Sakura felt her insides turn - Lee had saved her when the trio first appeared, but she couldn't do anything to save him.

"Here's the little trick," Dosu told him, his one visible eye crinkling in amusement. "You can't just dodge against my attacks."

Lee's hand went up to cup his left ear - Sakura noticed it was bleeding. "What did you do to him?!" she yelled in fury.

"It's sound," Dosu answered evenly. "Even if you dodge my fist, sound will attack you,"

Lee strained just to look up at him.

"Do you know what sound is?" Dosu asked.

"Vibration," Sakura answered, realization suddenly hitting her. The contraption on Dosu's hand - it allowed the sound waves to be a form of weapon!

"Exactly," Dosu replied, casting her an amused glance. "When you hear sound, it means that your eardrum is catching a shaking of air. The human eardrum will break by hearing sounds exceeding a hundred and fifty megahertz. When the inner ear membrane is damaged, you will lose your balance."

Trying to prove him wrong, Lee struggled unto his feet, but found that he couldn't. Sakura wanted so much to run and attack Dosu, but if she did so, no one would stand in the way between Sasuke and Naruto and Dosu's teammates.

Dosu chuckled at Lee's fruitless attempt. "You won't be able to move your body for a while," he said.

Behind him, his teammate was laughing as well. "Lame old taijutsu won't work on us," he quipped. "I was forced to use my jutsu - so I commend you for that... but you were bound to lose even from the very beginning."

Dosu's teammate lifted his hands up from the ground and Sakura saw that he had hold in the middle of each of his palm.

What were those? Air sockets?

"I can freely control super-sonic sound waves and air pressure," Dosu's teammate explained. Sakura was pretty sure Dosu had called him by his name before - Zaku? Was that his name? "Blasting air into the earth to make a cushion is nothing compared to your lame technique."

Now that Zaku's speech was over, Dosu turned towards Sakura and began to run towards her to attack. Sakura stood on her ground and prepared for the blow. If she could create a chakra barrier to prevent the sound waves from entering her ear, then -

Sakura immediately stopped her train of thoughts when she realized that Lee had run in front of her to take the blow instead.

"Lee!" Sakura cried out in surprise.

Lee motioned to attack him, but stopped midway, the pain from Dosu's initial attack taking its toll once more. Lee collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Dosu took this as a cue to end him once and for all and raised his arm to deliver the final blow - but Sakura would never let it happen.

Swiftly, she withdrew several kunai and shuriken from her holster and aimed it in Dosu's direction. The sound nin deflected her weapons with his arm contraption - Sakura expected as much, but she'd delivered the attack anyways to keep him from killing Lee. She had not expected Lee to come and save her, but she was grateful nonetheless. And now, she would be the one who would save them - all of them.

She took a step forward, shielding Lee's body with her own, as she took another handful of shuriken from her holster.

It was her turn now - it was her turn to protect everyone.

* * *

"Ino, let's go! If we get discovered, they'll quickly overcome us! We're no match for them!" Chouji whispered with uncharacteristic alertness in his tone.

Beside her, Shikamaru also spoke, "It looks to me like Sasuke and Naruto are just knocked out - I don't see any serious injuries." He paused, examining the scene before them. "Lee has been beaten, though, and Sakura is alone. What will you do, Ino?"

Lost in her thoughts, Ino took a while before she answered - just realizing that she was being spoken to. "Wh-why are you asking me?" she said quietly.

"Well," Shikamaru answered, looking at her expectantly, "Sakura is in trouble - didn't you guys used to be good friends?"

Ino clenched her fists - _weren't they_? Ino had certainly considered her her best friend once, but... had she really meant anything to Sakura at all?

_"You're not what he needs right now!" _Memories of green, troubled eyes invaded her thoughts.

"_And you are?" _Ino had asked her then.

Sakura had looked at her, and all the conflicted emotions in her eyes vanished. "_Yes."_

Ino tightened her fists into balls, and she knew that if she checked her hands now, she would see four crescent-moon shaped cuts on each palm.

But she was in no condition to move, let alone to check them.

"_From now on, Ino..."_

Why was she hesitating? Why was she hesitating about leaving Sakura? _She _hadn't been the one who left first. _She _hadn't been the one to end their friendship. It was _Sakura._

"_...we are rivals."_

_She_ was the one who walked away.

"Hey, Ino!" Shikamaru's harsh whisper pulled her back to reality. "What do we do?"

"I don't know!" Ino answered, slightly panicked, her eyes never leaving the fight happening just twenty meters in front of her.

Ino watched as Sakura positioned herself determinedly in front of Rock Lee's unconscious body, drawing another batch of shuriken from her kunai holster. She jumped high up in the air and threw the shuriken in different directions at the man who seemed to be the team's leader. What had his teammate called him again? Dosu?

Dosu stood frozen on the spot, watching as the shuriken whirred towards him from every direction. He raised his arm to cover his face, but Ino knew that this didn't do much for defense. She had seen enough to know that Dosu didn't have the ability to deflect weapons with sound.

...But his teammate did.

And at that exact moment, Dosu's male teammate - the one who had saved him from Lee's jutsu - formed a seal and deflected the advancing weapons with ease.

Sakura landed on her feet again, and just as she reached for her kunai holster again, the girl from Dosu's team appeared behind her and caught her long, pink hair. The girl pushed Sakura to the ground, and then pulled her head back, to get a good look at her face.

Sakura let out an inaudible gasp.

"Your hair has much more luster than mine," the girl said, smirking down at her. "Don't tell me you have more time to treat your hair than to train, you pathetic little girl.

The girl pulled on Sakura's hair harder, and Sakura gritted her teeth, not allowing herself to show any sign of weakness.

"Zaku! Kill that Sasuke guy in front of this little girl to teach her a lesson," the girl said, nodding towards her teammate.

"That's actually a good idea, Kin," Zaku answered, walking leisurely towards where Sasuke and Naruto lay.

Sakura's face looked up at them with mixed expressions of desperation and anger - she could see that she was balling her hands into fists, as well. Ino's heart raced faster, feeling blood trickle in between her fingers.

Zaku advanced, glancing smugly at the pink-haired girl. "Don't worry, little girl. We'll make killing him as slow and as painful as possible."

Ino breathed heavily. She could feel Shikamaru's penetrating gaze on her face, but she still paid him no heed.

_You don't need to help her, Ino - she left you, _Ino told herself. _She left you for _some _boy. She left you, Ino._

Except... Sasuke wasn't really just some 'boy' to Sakura, was he?

Ino bit her lower lip hard.

_To you... Sasuke-kun is everything._

"Ino..." Shikamaru started again.

_Sasuke-kun... is all you have left._

"_You are not what he needs right now!"_

Shikamaru pressed further. "Ino, we have to -"

And just as Ino was about to cut him off to tell him that she'd made her decision, Sakura did something she least expected her to do: she drew a kunai and cut her long, pink strands from her head and broke free from Kin's tight grasp.

Ino could not believe her eyes.

"_Is it true? That Sasuke-kun likes girls with long hair?"_

It seemed like it all happened in slow motion - Dosu, Zaku and Kin's surprised faces, Sakura's pink tresses falling slowly to the ground... and her back - Sakura's back - as she turned around and faced the tree with a determined stance.

It was like she was talking to her, even without saying anything.

"_From now on, Ino... we are rivals."_

The message was clear: **"He needs me."**

* * *

Sakura stood still in the middle of the three of them. There was a moment of silence before Zaku yelled. "Kin! Kill her!"

She saw Kin and Zaku simultaneously prepare their attacks, but there was a moment's hesitation from Kin before she moved. Dosu seemed content to watch where he was standing - Sakura would care no less. She was going to beat the hell out of them if that's what she was going to have to do.

Sakura performed a series of seals just as Zaku performed his, and as Kin overcame her surprise and attacked her, she disappeared, leaving a piece of log in her place.

Sakura appeared behind Zaku, and threw several kunai towards his direction. She knew that he would be able to deflect them, but it served as a good distraction nonetheless. She performed another kawarimi jutsu and reappeared above him.

Sakura was determined, but she was also realistic - she knew that her physical strength was not going to let her win this fight, so, instead, she was going to win by using her intelligence.

Just as Zaku turned his head up, she performed the beginnings of another kawarimi jutsu and Zaku withdrew kunai from his own holster and threw it at her. Zaku, however, did not wait to see if the kunai hit her, because he was expecting her to reappear somewhere else. Sakura took this to her advantage; she shielded her face and body with her arms and legs. She felt the sharp pain of the blades all over her body, but she ignored them and advanced towards Zaku with a kunai in her hands.

Zaku looked up at her in alarm as she buried her weapon against Zaku's right arm. If she remembered correctly, his justu were all based on the windpipes in the middle each of his palm. If she could damage it, then it would give her an advantage -

Zaku, recovering from his shock, dislodged the kunai from his arm with a grunt and used it to stab Sakura in the back. Sakura stifled a scream as she went down.

No - she was _not_ giving up! She was absolutely _NOT_ GIVING UP! Naruto and Sasuke and Lee needed her!

With all her might, she gripped on Zaku's left arm and bit down hard. If she damaged his air pipes, even _just one_ -

"_You are weak, Sakura," _her mother's voice echoed in her mind.

"Let go of me! Let me go!" Zaku yelled, pounding his right fist against the back of her head over and over and over -

_I am not giving up! I am not giving up! I am not giving up!_

"Let me go, you pathetic little girl!" Zaku kept pounding, and Sakura's vision started to waver. She shut her eyes tight.

_Mother, watch me. Watch me - I'm not going to be weak!_

Sakura tasted blood - she wasn't sure if it was her own or Zaku's, but she continued biting. Zaku pulled on her hair now, but since she'd cut it earlier, it didn't do much help.

Sakura felt her head throb, and her bite loosened just a bit as she opened her eyes again. Zaku chose this moment to stab the kunai on her back deeper and twist it against her flesh. Sakura screamed. Now that she had let go, Zaku tossed her away from him and turned both his palms towards her direction - both armbands were dripping with blood. She turned her head towards the sound nin and glared. It didn't matter - she had damaged both his arms - even just a little - and his jutsu would be weaker than before.

She could take it - it didn't matter.

Sakura stayed where she was and looked up at Zaku defiantly, daring him, as she prepared for her blow. But just as it came, three familiar figures appeared in front of her, taking the blow for her.

Ino, Chouji and Shikamaru stumbled on their feet a bit, but other than that they seemed unharmed. Inwardly, she sighed in relief. She had been right - she _had_ damaged Zaku's arms.

"Pft... more weirdoes have appeared," Zaku mumbled, smirking sadistically.

"Ino..." Sakura started, but the blonde kunoichi cut her off.

"We are rivals, Sakura," she said, her back facing her. "I am not going to lose to you."

"Why...?"

"I won't let you be the only one who gets to look good in front of Sasuke-kun," Ino answered.

* * *

Sasuke was in a very bright room - everything around him was white. There were no shadows, no other objects, _nothing _around him.

_Where _am _I?_

And then, a movement caught Sasuke's vision. there was somebody else with him, and he was standing in front of him. It took a few moments for Sasuke to realize that it was, in fact, himself as a child.

"Okaa-san and Chihi-ue didn't have to die..." his childhood voice echoed in his ears. "In the end, if you don't have strength, you can't do anything."

Young Sasuke cried, looking down at his feet with fear and mortification. Sasuke stood frozen on his spot. He wanted to console him, to tell him to stop crying...

But no. He couldn't do that. He could not tell _himself_ it was okay, when he knew that he did not believe it.

"Because I do not have strength," young Sasuke continued, "the clan was wiped out. Everyone was killed..."

"No," Sasuke wanted to say. "It's not my fault -"

And then, young Sasuke slowly looked up... but it was not young Sasuke anymore. It was Orochimaru, and he was grinning at him maliciously.

"You let them die." Orochimaru's grin widened as he looked at him. "All you did was watch."

Sasuke bit his tongue, willing himself not to scream, willing himself not to feel fear -

"...If you only had the strength."

And then, Sasuke opened his eyes.

* * *

**A/N:** I am getting really tired of these 'manga recap' chapters. I'm always slow to write when I have to extract the scenes from the manga. No matter, next chapter wouldn't be so manga-based anymore.

Drop a review and tell me what you think!


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